Hashtags are currently a ubiquitous part of social media. They’re used to categorize media, though each platform uses them slightly differently. Using hashtags well can grant more visibility to posts since people tend to follow what interests them.
History of Hashtags
Hashtags were originally conceived to bring an older technological concept into modern social media. The IRC channels of the 1980s and 90s were used to group topics of interest together. Initially, Twitter was a free for all much like the chat rooms of the time.
The first hashtags appeared on Twitter in 2007, though they were not immediately in demand. It took the San Diego Fire the same year to demonstrate how the hashtags could localize information. People started using them more often, and Twitter eventually incorporated the hashtag into their platform model.
Twitter incorporated the hashtag in 2009. Facebook added hashtags as a feature in 2013, while other platforms used them from day one like Instagram. These days, platforms have standardized their function, if not how they’re treated.
Using Hashtags: Facebook
Facebook had an existing platform before the incorporation of hashtags. As such, the functionality was awkward at the initial integration. It hasn’t improved a whole lot from there.
Facebook is a paradox for using hashtags. Posts with fewer hashtags tend to get more interaction. Additionally, ultra-specificity with hashtags benefits businesses on Facebook. The recommended best practice is to have a business hashtag and something specific to the post subject. This makes the text more searchable later.
Using Hashtag: Instagram
Instagram is the opposite of Facebook in that hashtags were included from the beginning. Each post can have up to 30 hashtags, and users can follow hashtags. That means that people don’t necessarily have to follow a profile to see a post from it. As a bonus, profiles and stories can also use hashtags.
Since hashtags are so integral to the platform, it’s essential to pick the right ones. A business should have a branded hashtag that appears on every post. From there, it’s a matter of finding the right hashtags. These hashtags should be more niche than broad to actually grow a following. It’s important to test drive hashtags to see which ones add followers on Instagram.
Using Hashtags: Twitter
The modern hashtag originated on Twitter. Consequently, they’re well integrated within the platform. Twitter even goes so far as to customize its trending hashtags based on user interests. However, finding the correct hashtags to make use of the limited characters can take some digging.
For Twitter, it’s best to keep hashtags succinct. One to two hashtags are really all any a single tweet needs. Often, these hashtags need to be very niched to join a meaningful conversation. Businesses often choose to have a branded hashtag and a niched one related to the tweet subject. It doesn’t do much good to add more.
Using Hashtags: Pinterest
Pinterest is not generally what people picture when they talk about hashtags. However, they work on the platform the same as the others. Clicking a hashtag brings up a list of other popular materials using the same hashtag. The interesting thing about Pinterest is it will also pull up the same words as in the hashtag as keywords.
Pinterest doesn’t have a hashtag limit; it has a character limit for its descriptions. Instead of loading up on the hashtags though, consider including an actual description first. Then use extra characters for either a keyword list or hashtags. Using niche tags really increases the odds of the right audience finding the pin.
Parting Thoughts
Using hashtags is a wonderful way to get in front of different audiences. They’re a versatile way when used correctly, and a benign one during experimentation in most cases. Consider researching and adding them into several types of posts wherever possible.
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