A hashtag is a keyword. You’ll find the # sign on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. How you use a hashtag is explained in this article.
How to use Hashtags (#) on social media
A hashtag is a keyword that is separated from the rest of the text by a number sign (#). Usually, there are a bunch of hashtags with relevant keywords at the end of a post or tweet.
- Users give their posts a label. On Facebook and Google+, the post is integrated into the keyword search. This means that other users will find your post if they search for the hashtag.
- The principle works in a similar way on Twitter. Here you can also search for hashtags and find all tweets on the topic. In addition, the top list of hashtags shows you which topics are particularly trending right now.
- To use a hashtag yourself, simply add a number sign in front of the desired word, for example “#how2foru”. Make sure that there is no space between the hashtag-sign and the word.
- Sometimes hashtags go viral and a lot of people use them like the #metoo after the Harvey Weinstein scandal. If you search for #metoo you will find all the posts and tweets regarding the topic.
What is a Tag?
Properly used tags allow users to search and find content they are interested in.
- For example, a news site could use tags to ensure that all articles concerning a certain topic appear on the proper subpage. These tags are usually invisible to users.
- On social media, it is also possible to tag other users (usually this is done by typing @ followed by the person’s or company’s username).
- When you tag a user, they are notified about it.
Sandra Sporer
My name is Sandra Sporer. I’m a 27-year-old English Literature student with an interest in gaming, art, books (of course), cinema and history. My love for writing sparked my interest in journalism and I completed a one-year-internship at my local newspaper right after school. From 2018 onward I have been writing articles for CHIP, Focus, How2ForU and other websites.
