For years Facebook has prided it’s self on helping people communicate, to further this mission Facebook joined the “Hash tag” uprising. Facebook added this tool which now allows people to place a ’#’ before words signifying its topic. When clicked on, this topic is collected together with other mentions and presented to the user neatly filed.
Users of the micro blogging platform Twitter or other popular social media sites such as Instagram, Pinterest and now even Google Plus and Vine have been users of the Hash Tag. For example when the horrific bombings occurred in Boston #prayforboston was circulating around all social networks, or #manofstell which has been a popular hash tag recently in light of the new Super Man film being released last month. It is uncertain if Facebook will also bring out additional features like trends, however it has been said to be in the pipe line.The clear benefits of this recent adaptation are that users will also be able to now click hash tags made when sharing Instagram photos on Facebook. This search will bring up posts with the certain tag also made by other users who have chosen to make their post public.
Currently only 20% of users have this tool on their profile however the service will continue to roll out during the next few weeks. However let us demonstrate to you the scale of the conversation on Facebook, between 88 million and 100 million Americans are using the service during primetime television hours. Game of Thrones‘ Red Wedding was mentioned 1.5 million times, while there were 66.5 million interactions (which include likes, comments and posts) around this year’s Oscars.
On the business side of things, this tool has almost been a blessing for businesses. Before this update hash tagging on a platform then sharing it directly to Facebook caused room for comments like “hash tags don’t work on Facebook” or “Hash tags have no power here”, etc. However now Businesses can hash tag to their delight on any social platform and share it directly to their company profile without receiving the obvious comments. It is uncertain to how this tool will adapt among all Facebook users, we predict this new way of search will either emphasises the power of communication or simply over popular our newsfeed which Hash tag nonsense.
Have you accepted the Hast Tag revolution yet? Leave us a comment and tell us why/why not?
Credit to Meme Center for their hilarious take on Hash Tags.
