What are Hashtags?

The process of writing a blogpost goes like this: 1. I read through my "social media" folder in my Google Reader to see what is going on in other social media blogs.

2. I think about how social media has come up recently in my life and how it could be helpful for others.

3. I write, pausing often to see if I can find better links or the right picture.

Somewhere in those steps, an idea is formed and a post is finished. For example, I was reading my RSS today and found hashtags being used outside of twitter. What is a hashtag, do you ask?

# <- this is a hashtag.

A hashtag is used on Twitter to let you followers know whether your tweet is related to a specific event or topic, for example "#followfridays" is a hash tag used on Fridays to show followers that the Twitteres mention in your tweet are people they might like to follow. Also, "#jobs" is a hashtag showing that your tweets are job offerings that are available. Hashtags can be tracked at hashtags.org, where one can see who else is talking about the same topic and what is being said.

Anyways, not that I'm starting to see them outside of Twitter, I begin to think that people who are less savvy to Twitter might start seeing random hashtags and wonder. I know I had no idea for quite a while what a hashtag was.