How Social Media Hashtags Have Changed Human Communications?
Social media has changed the way we communicate and do business. Global interactions through social media channels have grown in epic proportions — perhaps far more than any other communication tools or technologies. One of the most popular elements of social media communication in recent times is the ‘Hashtag’.
Using hashtags has transformed the basic concept of human communications on social media platforms in less than a decade, especially among those between 15-28years of age. Ever wonder how steadily the changes took place and what’s next in store? Read on.
Hashtags on Social Media: The Beginning and the Journey So Far
The hashtag, originally named as ‘Octothorpe’ when inserted on telephone keypads, has had a very interesting journey so far. It was introduced on social media platform Twitter on 23rdAugust 2007 by Chris Messina as a concept to create group conversations within the users.
https://twitter.com/chrismessina/status/223115412
Blogger Stowe Boyd first publicised the term ‘hashtag’ soon after Messina’s introductory tweet. From the introduction in a single post by Chris to slow but steady growth of widespread internet usage – the hashtag phenomenon has been gaining momentum and huge popularity over the years. Now you can barely find a public post on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and so on without stumbling across a hashtag!
Whether you want information on a certain topic on these platforms, or are voicing your opinion on an ongoing public campaign or just want to be in touch with a certain group of people/activities, all you need to find and use is the right hashtags today.
Benefits of Using Hashtags on Social Media
There are a number of ground-breaking impacts of using hashtags on various platforms of social media. Be it for sharing personal information to a group of friends on Facebook or following a certain public figure or an event on Twitter or just searching for your next step in Career through LinkedIn – the right hashtags can lead you to a treasure trove immediately.
Interpersonal communications:
- Express your thoughts with better power of organization
- Instantly categorise your reactions
- Get connected with the world in a way that’s super-fast and yet simple
- Concise, rapid and focused communications that streamline the ways of interpersonal interactions online
Social Media marketing initiatives:
- Engage wider audience
- Optimise the traffic to your website
- Target marketing with better efficiency
- Use hashtags on your business profile to get the focussed attention of your intended folks
- Get reliable information on current market trends, future prospects and even on your competitors through analysing key hashtags.
Using a simple # sign once or twice on your posts, you have the power to connect with more than 2.37 billion Facebook users or above 336 million Twitter users or over 77.6 million users on Instagram daily. #FeelThePower!
A Word of Caution
Excessive usage of hashtags may create confusion and misdirection in online posts. Also, multiple hashtags on a single post often decrease engagement with audiences. Carefully choose and use the hashtags to garner maximum benefits online. But, definitely keep them away from your in-person communications.
