Community Corner

#Hashtags Come to Facebook

Depending on your level of web-savvy - or maybe just your age -  you may know those "#" symbols that pop up all over social media as pound or the number sign.  But the kids have been calling it the hashtag since about 2007, according to about.com.

But until Wednesday, they had been completely useless on Facebook, but that's all changing.

Find out what's happening in Takoma Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hashtags are used on Twitter and Instagram to track conversation topics. For example, a Twitter user could write "Man, I loved Will and Grace #MustSeeTV" The "#MustSeeTV" then becomes clickable and brings up a list of every other tweet using that hashtag — a virtual conversation about the best shows on TV.  

The habit has crossed over to Facebook in the last year or so, but merely as a fad, not as a useful tool. But starting June 12, that is all changing. Facebook has started rolling out its new hashtag feature. According to ABC News, just like on Twitter, "when a hashtag is included in a post, clicking on it will pop out a feed that aggregates others posts that have been tagged with the same phrase."

All Facebook users will not gain access to clickable hashtags at once. ABC News reported that it will take a few weeks for the new feature to be available worldwide. 

According to TechCrunch, clicking a hashtag will not show users' every post with that phrase, but rather only public posts and posts by friends.  

Will you use the # on Facebook? Do you think it's useful? Tell us in the comments!

Find out what's happening in Takoma Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here