Bangalore: Hashtags, those small tic-tac-toe-like characters that pool, promote and power up conversations on Twitter and a host of other social networks, have finally made their debut on Facebook. So conversations and statements on Facebook will no longer be caught on your homepage or silos created by exclusive groups. Hashtag it and the conversations becomes part of a larger thread, though still with access only to people who have your nod on Facebook.
Hashtags has been a driving force behind the success of Twitter and most of the world's popular social networks like Google+ and Instagram. In fact, all the recent revolutions that were powered by social media networks have a lot to owe to the power of the hashtag. Everyone who used the #jan25 to vent their ire on Mubarak's regime was as involved, and as effective, as those camping at Tahrir Square. That is the power of the hashtag. That is why some of these new uprisings have even been called "hashtag revolutions". In India, the power of the hashtag was visible during the #Delhigangrape protests that gripped the national capital and during the #annahazare anti-corruption campaign.
The hashtag has become more potent with its entry into Facebook, without any doubt the most popular social network in the world with over a billion users. "Facebook has many conversations happening in closed groups. There was no way till now for these conversations to run across groups. With the hashtag you will see conversations on a topic by just clicking the tag," explained Amit Goel, CEO of Bangalore-based consulting and research firm Knowledgefaber. "Obviously, the social networks are all learning from each other. So while Facebook has introduced the hashtag, we recently saw linked in bringing in name identifiers like Facebook."
"For Facebook, introduction of clickable hashtags is in consonance with their bid to promote their graph search. Clearly the future is moving from search to discover and Facebook wants to lead it," said Nimesh Shah of social media agency Windchimes Communications. But he adds that unlike Twitter, updates on Facebook are privacy bound and hence all updates mentioning that particular hashtag may not be visible when a user searches for them. "This feature isn't very dramatic for Facebook but just one more in their larger objective of getting people to use graph search."
While hashtags will make it easier to find views about breaking news and trending topics, it will also make it easier for brands to promote their events and wares. Anyone who has tracked twitter has seem hashtags being used, or misused, to promote anything from new smartphones to masala oats. In India, it is common for those attending an event to be asked to tweet with a certain hashtag, often with prizes for those who use the tag the most.
In fact, Facebook itself might cash in on the hashtag. "Facebook is struggling with monetisation and it recognises the power hashtags has in promoting brands," Goel explains.
However, not every has been able to use a hashtag from today. This is a phased rollout and Facebook says it will be available to everyone within a fortnight. The Facebook blog has clarified that "as always, you control the audience for your posts, including those with hashtags". |
