#Hashtags on Facebook

With it sweeping the nation, learning the ins and outs of hashtagging has obviously troubled some internet junkies.

According to Twitter, a hashtag is defined as, “the # symbol, used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet.” Users are able to summarize their post by putting the pound sign followed by a word or phrase with no spaces. The idea was created by Twitter users as a way to categorize posts.

The problem lies when the hashtag symbol is used outside of the network in which it belongs. Recently the symbol has leaked onto other social networking sites, becoming a nuisance.

“Hashtags are for Twitter, I can’t stand people that use them on Facebook,” stated sophomore Zane Marsh.

The only sites that support hashtags are Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+, and Orkut.

“I think it’s stupid using a Twitter trademark on another social network where it doesn’t mean anything,” said junior Adam Ruby.

“It doesn’t even make sense, Facebook lets you write as much as you want. On Twitter, you only have 140 characters that you’re allowed, and hashtags help sum everything up in a small amount of letters,” quoted junior Grant Ballou.

Also, over hashtagging is considered wrong. On the Twitter help page regarding the use of hashtags it lists instructions. One states, “Don’t over-tag a single tweet. Best practices recommend using no more than two hashtags per tweet.”