#Octothorp

Wow, so I knew about #hashtags before this course, but had never really used them before. Now it seems like just second nature and part of the Twitter experience. Instead of searching and getting a collection of results (eg search for Sydney Writers Conference and you get many events) hashtags provide a super-clear grouping of results (eg #sydneywrites2017 will only return the content tagged with this hashtag).

I was driving along in my car listening to one of my favorite podcasts, 99% Invisible and came across an episode named Octothorpe. What’s this I thought (I think it might be some type of marine animal). Well, it turns out it is another name for the # symbol. The podcast itself gives an overview of the symbol over the years.

While that might not appeal to everyone, I think it’s perfect blogging material for our course  🙂

What I didn’t know, was that Twitter did not even start the idea. It all came about in 2007 from a suggestion from Twitter user Chris Messina. It initially started as a suggestion for an event called Bar Camp, and gained real popularity when Chris later suggested it during a wildlife fire ins San Diego (#sandiegofire)

I think it is a great example of how in the Web 2.0 environment, in addition to teh platforms themselves, so much of how social media is evolving is driven by users and communities.

(Click image for a larger version)

If your interested in the history of the hashtag (it is truly a fascinating tale stretching back further than Twitter) check out the podcast here at 99% Invisible.