Entry #7: Organization in the Digital Space

The Hashtag, or as I once knew it, the pound sign. This symbol was commonly used to represent numbers and weights within North America. When the # preceded a number it meant literally "number X". #3 translates to number 3. In terms of weight, when the symbol follows a number it commonly meant weight in pounds. 2# translates to 2 pounds. The symbol was also referred to as a hash symbol, especially in the U.K. where the word pound could easily be confused with the system of currency. The symbol was also used in computer program to highlight import text or sequences.

So, How did we get the Hashtag? The answer is simple, it developed as a result of Twitter and it's use of the symbol to highlight key words that could be made searchable and link-able. When a # symbol is used, the text that follows becomes a key word. Key words and tags are exactly the same they ear mark certain content. In a search engine if you wanted to read something about Pomeranian puppies, you would likely type that same phrase into the search bar. In turn the search engine is going to try and find all the pages that have puppies and that have Pomeranian as key terms or tags. These pages get pulled up and are presented. Twitter uses the same idea to link posts. If you search by a hashtag it will pull up all of the content that includes the hashtag that was searched for. This provides users with an easy effective way to search for relevant content.

The use of the hashtag has presented journalists a newfound medium with witch to asses public opinion and gain quotable commentary on an issue. A journalist could simply look up a topic by its hashtag and they would be immediately flooded with public opinions on the topic. The use of hashtags are an excellent addition to search and sift through large amounts of data.

If you are like me and you lack any experience with twitter at all, you may like these neat guide featured on Mashable. The Hashtag. Its an easy to read beginners guide to all things hashtag.