- The hashtag was first used in a user’s post in August 2007.
- Tags are used to classify posts, give them visibility, help monitor them or help create a community.
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag is a keyword that can be clicked on with the mouse to group terms together by adding a hash symbol immediately before the word in question.
However, the Royal Spanish Academy recommends using the term “label” to refer to this concept, which serves to group and identify ideas quickly and conveniently.
Its use became popular in 2010 when the social network then known as Twitter introduced trending topics to highlight the most relevant conversations on this microblogging network created in 2006.
But where do these hashtags come from?
What is the origin of the hashtag?
The origin of this term, so common in digital life, dates back to 2007, when a product designer and internet consultant suggested on his Twitter profile (@ChrisMessina) the use of the hash symbol to group similar posts.
With his “How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?” posted on 23 August 2007, which is why that date has been commemorated as International Hashtag Day since 2018, he made history by turning #barcamp into the first hashtag in history.
Since Messina deleted his posts and is no longer active on the current X, this original message that gave rise to the hashtag cannot be viewed.
What is a hashtag used for?
The main purpose of hashtags is to organise and/or categorise social media content so that it is easily findable for users, functioning as virtual labels that group content on the same topic.
This allows users to find information, interact in the conversation, or increase the visibility and reach of posts.
We can therefore summarise the uses of tags as follows:
- Classification. Both for classifying and searching for content, hashtags simplify the possibilities for other users to view other posts simply by clicking on these tags.
- Visibility and reach. This dissemination capacity also serves to increase both the visibility and reach of posts interested in common topics.
- Be part of the conversation and monitor it. Participating in conversations through a hashtag helps to group posts together. It also makes it easier to monitor conversations to find out in detail the direction in which activity linked to a particular tag is heading. This conversation can range from generic and/or timeless topics to specific actions or events.
- Build your brand and community. Using hashtags created for a specific purpose can help build your brand and community by encouraging participation or increasing a sense of belonging.
- Campaigns and competitions. With specific objectives in mind, hashtags can also be used to promote marketing campaigns or competitions.
What are the most popular hashtags?
In a previous post on this blog, we mentioned some of the hashtags most popular and recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. Some events that took place in the following years:
- 2011. First #selfie on Instagram, by a user named Jennifer Lee.
- 2018. The largest hashtag in history created by humans was made in March of that year in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with the participation of 1,927 people.
- 2019. The most used hashtag on Twitter in 24 hours, #TwitterBestFandom, exceeded 60 million users between 26 and 27 March of that year.
So, although it was born almost 20 years ago on Twitter, the hashtag has long since jumped to other social networks and has become an inherent part of activity on these digital platforms.
Frequently asked questions
In 2007, specifically on 23 August, with a Twitter post by a user named Chris Messina.
The first hashtag was #barcamp, which appeared in Chris Messina's post.
23 August, as it was on this day in 2007 that it was first used.
On Twitter, although it later spread to other networks.
