Hashtag Etiquette: Always Use in Moderation

The ever-expanding world of social networking has taken what was once known as the pound sign or the number sign and given it a new identity: the hashtag.

Hashtags were created by Twitter as a way for users to categorize their posts without needing to change to basic method of posting. It not only helps to spread and organize information, but when a given subject is tweeted about alongside a hashtag, it makes it easier to find via search. They have varying degrees of purpose, from serious and business-oriented to sarcastic and humorous. Some can be something as simple as #rememberwhen, used to categorize a post about something a user misses or used to do, for example “#rememberwhen studying was optional?”

Sometimes it’s a means of sharing an experience. #fail is often used to tell of a moment when someone makes a fool out of themselves, for example “Just sat in the wrong lecture for 45 minutes…#fail.”

#NowPlaying has been at the top of the most popular hashtags for the past few weeks. It allows users to share with their followers what music they’re listening to or what movies they’re watching.

Media tends to have a large impact on the most popular hashtags. When Charlie Sheen decided to show his true colors (and by true colors, I mean insanity), #winning was everywhere.

And since the news of Kim Kardashian’s pending divorce, #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage has become a huge trending topic, some favorites being “Taylor Swift’s VMA speech… when interrupted by Kanye West” or “However long it took to find Nemo.”

But recently, hashtags have been expanding from Twitter to other means of social networking. They now litter Facebook statuses and posts. I even recently saw #WhatDidTheySee used in an ad on Facebook for the upcoming film, “The Woman in Black.”

“I had a Twitter before it was so popular,” said sophomore philosophy major Cendy Schutt. “So when I saw hashtags being brought to Facebook, I found it pointless because on Twitter it is used to promote the trending topics. But what purpose does it really have on Facebook or texts messages? I think if you want to use hashtags so much just get a Twitter account and use it there where it has a real purpose.”

Cendy makes a valid point. Hashtags are used on Twitter as a means of organization and even promoting. But Facebook has no means of tracking and organizing when they are added to statuses or posts. It seems people have become so accustomed to categorizing their thoughts on Twitter that the practice is spilling over to other social networking tools.

“You can’t really expect social media to stay in one place,” said sophomore pyschology Audrey Lovett. “Because it is meant to bring people together.”

I don’t see the spreading of this as an issue, but there are those that I like to call “Over-Hashtagers.” They add hashtags to their tweets, their status updates, posts on other peoples’ walls, emails and text messages. These entusiasts sometimes even have more than one hashtag to add to whatever it is that they’re saying, but at that point, no one really reads what they’re saying anymore because it is riddled by so many hashtags.

Remember when “LOL” and emoticons were created? Finally, three little letters allowed you to communicate that you were laughing or thought something was funny. You could even control the tone of your text messages and emails by adding a happy face, a sad face or an (uh-oh) angry face.
But then texts started coming in with unnecessary LOLs and excessive smiley faces. Sure, people were excited about means to express themselves via text, but the need for self-control was quickly realized. Especially when an unfortunate part of the population began to say LOL in real life instead of actually laughing.

Like all innovations in social networking, hashtagging requires a bit of etiquette. We all have those Facebook friends that blow up the news feed because they possess the need to alert everyone when they brush their teeth.

“It’s annoying when people use them all the time on Facebook,” said Lovett. “When something like this, ‘had such a good day #lovelife #goodgirl #Friday’ is on Facebook.”

Hashtags should be used somewhat sparingly and only when they improve what you’re trying to say. Overuse can result not only in confusion, but annoyance with said confusion. In other words, if you are adding a hashtag to every other word within a post, no one is going to know what you’re saying and will then most likely stop trying to figure it out. And as a general rule, hashtagging things out loud should be avoided.

But don’t lose track of their up-sides. They can allow the sharing of important information and organization of thoughts. It will probably take a few years for their full potential and accepted use to be achieved, but until then, we can be entertained by just how many things are longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriage.

If you want to use hashtags on Facebook as well as Twitter, go for it. There is really no use in controlling distinguishing features between something so similar as a tweet and a status update. But remember, it isn’t where hashtags started and they do not serve the same purpose. In other words, don’t load up on hashtags that just make what you’re saying more confusing and more annoying to read when your post isn’t actually being categorized. So use with caution. But if you ever feel the need to hashtag something you say out loud, I will go after you.

The crossover of hashtags into other media may be disconcerting at first, but it is the natural flow of social media. When a balance between acceptance and overuse is achieved, it can be something to be embraced rather than disdained.

Hannah Webster can be reached at hannahkarine31@gmail.com