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Twitter user Chris Messina suggested using the pound sign (#) for organizing group conversations in August 2007. Twitter adopted the hashtag in 2009, and it has since become a social media staple used by millions of users every day. Other social networks, including Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook, also use hashtags.
Twitter has traced the birth of the term “hashtag” to August 2007, during the early days of the social networking service. On August 23, 2007, Chris Messina, officially the 1,186th user on Twitter, tweeted “How do you feel about using # (hash) for groups. As in #barcamp (msg)?” He thought the pound or pound sign (#) would be useful for organizing group conversations about related tweets. He also suggested Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone consider adopting the practice. Stone sarcastically replied, “Sure, we’ll take care of that right away.” Now, 10 years later, the humble symbol that denoted a number (as in pencil #2) has become a social media staple. Twitter’s 125 million users use around 328 million hashtags every day.
Four intersecting lines, a useful tool:
A devastating fire in San Diego County in 2007 triggered the first widespread use of a hashtag: #sandiegofire allowed users to easily track updates.
In 2009, Twitter officially adopted the hashtag, adding hyperlinks so users could click on a hashtag to instantly search for tweets on the same topic.
Hashtags are now also used on other social networks, including Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook.
