Entry #7: Hashtags

 Hey there!

A lot of us either have social media accounts or know someone with one. Many times when someone posts a TikTok or posts on Instagram the first thing they think to do is give it a hashtag. In high school, every time I posted on social media there was always a hashtag on my pictures and not just one. I used to use so many hashtags that it looked like a small paragraph just within itself. For me, they were a way to get likes on my pictures because anyone who looked up a hashtag that I included, my picture would be there for people to see. Of course, hashtags are not just for high schoolers looking for extra likes on their photos, they have other uses for different people. 

Hashtags have a variety of uses that many of us use every time we share something on social media. Today we are going to talk about a few of their uses that many may or may not have known about!

One use is making connections with those who have similar interests and likes as you. 

Say you take a photo of your dog and post it online and underneath your photo you tag it #puppies, the first thing you will most likely see when you click on your tag are many other similar pictures of puppies. Maybe someone who really loves dogs might look up this hashtag and see your dog along with others like your photo. For me when I want to see things I find interesting like makeup looks or nail inspiration I like to search up things like #nailinspo or #makeuplooks and these take me to pages full of posts related to those tags. 

The next use is one of the more obvious reasons, to get more views.

Using hashtags to get the internet-famous is one of the most common reasons people with social media use them. Platforms like TikTok like to use tags to create more popularity for a post. You get more views the apps get paid and the users get more likes, views, and follows. It's a win-win situation between the two that makes sense as to why they are useful. For example, a common tag you see is #fyp (for you page) on TikTok that many users like to add to their post because that tag will most likely land on someone's “for you page”. Bringing more attention to the posts with these tags brings more popularity to those using them. It’s that easy! 

Another use for hashtags that I have noticed a lot, especially today, is unity. Tags like #BLM have significant power in this world and give people a way to unite together for causes like Black Lives Matter. Hashtags like this one reveal users expressed national unity and solidarity through both visual and textual displays of strength, resilience, loyalty, and pride. You may even see them a lot on banners and posters in events like marches. Obviously, you cant click on a poster and see its related posts but you can understand that there is a greater message than what you usually associate with hashtags.

The list goes on because there are just so many reasons you could use a hashtag! It’s interesting to think that something so simple can create something so big. 

 

What other reasons do you think hashtags would be used for? 

See everyone in the next blog!