Hashtag

Hashtags are shorthand for identifying content on social media. They are not something entirely new, with many aspects of hashtags echoing previously established methods for classifying and identifying content. But hashtags have taken on a newfound importance alongside recent discussions about the value—and the dangers—of social media.

More and more, the power that hashtags wield seems to lie in their ability to create group identities and group dynamics. Hashtags can be used to identify a user with a certain cause or a certain community; think of the posts that use #BlackLivesMatter or #NoDAPL, for instance. Hashtags can do this same sort of identity work for businesses.

They also can be used to create and track virtual mobs and to publicize certain methods of 'guerilla' activism or social change. On top of everything, however, hashtags seem to be perfect for making things trend—and I mean quickly—on social media and beyond.