Facebook to Add Hashtag Support to Posts

The difference between Twitter and Facebook has always been a relatively thin and easily-traversed line. If you own a Facebook account you are probably no stranger to seeing hashtags on your news feed, in statuses and in comments. You would think that given that the hashtag is the notorious symbol of Twitter, Facebook would want to discourage it. Well you’d be wrong because it has now emerged that Facebook is preparing to roll out hashtag support.

Facebook already allows its users to tag people, places, pages and other miscellaneous subjects but by adding hashtags Facebook are opening up a whole realm of possibilities that we haven’t seen since erm….Twitter?

Twitter made the hashtag famous back in 2007, yes that long ago, but that hasn’t seemed to have stopped Facebook coming in on this Social Media trend even if they are (very) late to the party. The reasons for Facebook to add this feature are numerous, it allows for the easier indexing and arrangement of content and it makes it easier to organise advertising and therefore generate revenues. A brief glimpse on some advertising across all mediums: TV, Radio, Newspapers, Signage, etc reveals just how popular the hashtag has become.

For those not familiar with the hashtag it prefixes words or phrases with the “#” symbol to denote a particular topic or grouping. The hashtag was made famous and popular from its integration into Twitter which was triggered in late 2007.

Facebook have reportedly declined to comment on the speculation which is no real surprise. What do you think about the prospect of the hashtag being brought to Facebook? A good idea? An irritable trend? A contribution towards Social Media saturation? Let us know what you think!

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