Hashtag facts for kids
A hashtag is a special word or phrase used on social media. It starts with a number sign, like this: `#`. You might see it on sites like Twitter or Instagram. Hashtags help people find messages about a certain topic. When you click on a hashtag, you can see all the posts that use it. It's like a way to organize online conversations!
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People create hashtags by putting the `#` sign in front of a word or a short phrase. For example, if you post a picture of a blue sky, you might add `#bluesky`. This helps others who are looking for pictures of blue skies find your post. Hashtags can have letters, numbers, and underscores.
The idea for hashtags was first suggested by Chris Messina in 2007. At first, Twitter wasn't sure about it. But soon, people started using them a lot! Chris Messina didn't try to own the idea. He felt hashtags belonged to everyone on the internet. Because of this, he is often called the "godfather of the hashtag."
By the end of the 2000s, hashtags were everywhere. You could find them on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube. Instagram even had to limit posts to 30 hashtags. But people found ways around this, like putting more hashtags in the comments! Today, most big websites use hashtags. Young people, politicians, and celebrities all use them. The word "hashtag" was even added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014.
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How Hashtags Started
The number sign "#" has been used for special meanings in computers for a long time. In the US, it's also called a "pound sign." In the UK, it's called a "hash."
For example, in the 1970s, the `#` sign was used in computer programming. It helped tell the computer to do something right away. Later, in the 1980s, the `#` sign was used in the C programming language. It marked special words that needed to be processed first.
Hashtags and IRC
The `#` sign was also used in a very early online chat system called IRC. This was around 1988. In IRC, the `#` symbol was used to label chat groups and topics. Chat channels that were available to everyone on the network started with a `#`.
This use of the `#` sign in IRC gave Chris Messina the idea for hashtags on Twitter. He thought Twitter could use a similar system.
The First Hashtag
Chris Messina posted the very first hashtag on Twitter. It was on August 23, 2007. He asked:
How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
—Chris Messina, ("factoryjoe"), August 23, 2007
Twitter didn't officially adopt his idea at first. But people started using hashtags on their own. This happened a lot during the 2007 San Diego forest fires. People used hashtags to share updates about the fires.
Chris Messina wanted hashtags to help everyone find information easily. He thought they would be great for people who weren't very good with technology. Hashtags were created by Twitter users themselves to sort messages. Today, anyone can use them to organize information.
Hashtags Around the World
Hashtags became a popular way to write Twitter posts during the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests. People inside and outside Iran used hashtags in both English and Persian to talk about what was happening.
The first time the term "hash tag" was written down was in a blog post. It was by Stowe Boyd on August 26, 2007.
On July 2, 2009, Twitter started making all hashtags clickable. When you clicked a hashtag, it would show you all the tweets with that hashtag. In 2010, Twitter added "Trending Topics." This showed hashtags that were quickly becoming popular. Twitter uses special rules to make sure these trends are real and not fake.
Even though hashtags started on Twitter, they are now used on many other social media sites. These include Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, and Google+.
Images for kids
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Search bar in the header of a social networking site, searching for most recent posts containing the hashtag #science
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Stencil graffiti promoting the hashtag #OccupyForRights
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Two young men displaying the hashtag hand gesture
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The rise of hashtag activism
See also
In Spanish: Hashtag para niños
