DUBAI: It is 10 years since the hashtag was first used on Twitter in what was a fairly mundane comment that would revolutionize the use of this now popular digital symbol.
It was former Google and Uber engineer Chris Messina who came with the idea of using “#” as a way of tagging or categorizing a tweet on Aug. 23, 2007.
That tweet that would change everything simply read: “How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?”
how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
— ⌗ChrisMessina (@chrismessina) August 23, 2007
From then onwards, the hashtag has become one of the most commonly used characters, spreading across various modes of social media – people even use the word “hashtag” in conversations in an ironic fashion to place emphasis on something.
From the “Ice Bucket Challenge” to “Black Lives Matter” and “Bring Back Our Girls,” the latter referring to the 219 Chibok school girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, hashtags have become as much a tool of communication as the written word.
They are used for commercial, social or even political and protest purposes.
The symbol has also become widely used to show unity in the aftermath of a tragedy - #jesuischarlie was used by people all around the globe following the attack on the Paris offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Sports fans commemorated Australian cricketer, Phillip Hughes, with the hashtag #PutYourBatsOut, when he died on Nov. 25, 2014, following a freak accident on the pitch when the ball struck him on an unprotected part of his head.
And who can forget “#Thedress,” which discussed whether a dress was black and blue, or white and gold?
Other media platforms, such as television and radio, will often highlight a specific hashtag, to get audience members involved in online conversations.
In 2007 Twitter reported that the most used hashtag was #noticias – the Spanish word for news, which was tweeted approximately 9,000 times.
Move the clock 10 years forward and the numbers are quite different. The most used hashtag this year – boasting a massive 300 million tweets – is not even a word.
The hashtag, #BTSBBMMAS, refers to K-Pop band BTS and their victory at this year’s Billboard Music Awards.
Twitter UK’s managing director Dara Nasr said: “From their first use 10 years ago, hashtags have grown to be part of everyday language across the globe, with 125 million used every day on Twitter… From moments and movements such as #CupForBen and #BlackLivesMatter, they bring communities together to show what’s happening from every side.”
And on Wednesday Twitter marked the anniversary with the appropriately named #Hashtag10.
