In a news release today, Facebook announced that they are adding support for clickable hashtags, which the social network Twitter popularized.
"Starting today, hashtags will be clickable on Facebook. Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, or Pinterest, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion," the company wrote in a blog post.
What does this mean for you? It means you will be able to use hashtags, otherwise known by putting a "#" in front of words that symbolize breaking news, trends, businesses, political figures, memes, etc.
Use Facebook Search for Hashtags
Facebook went on to say “people can search for hashtags from the search bar, which will allow them to keep up with the latest gossip, breaking news, and popular topics - a tool that has made sites that employ it like Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr so popular.”
Some social network users like hashtags so much, that they have been using them on Facebook all along, but now, they'll finally have a purpose.
Users will be able to use Facebook by clicking on a tag, which will allow them to see posts of what other people and pages are saying about a topic. This could be a good tool for pages, and small businesses.
Hashtags and Your Privacy
Facebook also stated that they are going to take into consideration each user’s privacy settings. This means that if you hashtag in a post that only your friends, or friends of friends can see, only they’ll be able to see that hashtag’s feed.
CNET stated “this addition comes at an important time for Facebook, since the social networking giant is losing relevance with young people who are using Twitter and other networks more frequently.”
This new addition to Facebook rolls out to a small percentage of users on 6/12/13 and will appear to everyone within the next few weeks. You will notice that hastags are turning blue. Facebook is hoping the addition of hashtags will increase its popularity and wavering relevance among users. What do you think?
