Hash tags: what it is and how to use them

With the advent of social networks in the world of web, developers began to wonder about how to sort the information that is downloaded to sites. Every day tens of thousands of photos, hundreds of quotes, videos, music and documents are published. It is impossible to collect them into one single group according to formats. Each shared document has its own theme.

So there were hash tags.

What is a hash tag?

Translated from English, "hash-tag" means "lattice" + "label". This type of tagging is used only in microblogs and social networks. Tags help sort out all kinds of information by type, subject and other properties.

Hash tags are often used by commercial companies to promote the goods and create a trend in "Twitter", "Instagram", etc. Each user can create his own hash tag. To do this, it is sufficient to put a "#" sign in front of a set of letters and numbers.

For the first time, tags were introduced in 2007 by Chris Messina. However, the innovation was not recognized by the public and was forgotten for almost three years. Then in 2010 in "Twitter" began to add tags to ridiculous quotes and statements.

After only a few months, tags have become an excellent way to filter out information. Then the fashion trend began to be used on other sites.

How to correctly add

Although the "lattice" was invented by a foreigner, over time, hash tags were used by different peoples.

However, their use is subject to several basic rules:

• The tag can be written in any language.
• For a correct spelling, the word should not be separated from the grating by a space.
• The hash tags are separated only by a space between them.
• If a phrase consisting of several words is used as a tag, then the spaces from it are removed. For example: # here must be a new tag.

Terms of Use

In addition to knowing how to properly write and arrange tags, the most popular bloggers note that there are several unspoken rules for using them.

Although you can add a tag to any part of the message: beginning, middle or end, different approaches are preferred in different social networks. In the "Twitter" is usually put a hash-tag at the beginning of the message or in the middle. So it's more convenient to read tweets.

"VKontakte" and "Facebook" do not have restrictions in the amount of messages. In such cases, all hash tags are transferred to the end of the message. "Instagram" did not put forward rules for making labels, but more often than not, users write a short caption to the video, and then place a list of tags.

Bloggers advise not to compose hash tags of five or more words. Its optimal and convenient length: ten to fifteen characters. In "Twitter" recommend to use a maximum of three tags.

To promote a channel or profile, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with lists that include popular hash tags in advance. So the message, image or tweet will not be lost among the vast amount of information.

Hash tags in social networks

For many Internet users, the proper use of a hash tag is the key to success and profit. Channels designed to promote business, ideas, videos and so on, are gaining new subscribers due to the correct and proper use of tags.

But for each of the most popular sites, the hash tag has its own meaning and place in the message.

"Twitter"

For the first time, hash tags were used on the Twitter site. This was done for the convenience of finding tweets on topics. If you mark a message with the # sale tag, the tweet will automatically be added to the general line in the appropriate heading.

According to statistics, the correct use of tags increases the number of views at least twice.

"In contact with"

Social network "VKontakte" - one of the largest in runet. A huge number of groups and public pages does not allow you to quickly sort all the data. Here, the tags are used to display posts in the shared stream.

Also, group moderators can create community-specific tags. Then visitors can quickly find among all the posts you need.

"Facebook"

For Facebook, as for the VKontakte network, hash tags are a way of sorting information. Clicking on the name of the tag, the user will go to the tape, where all posts will match the query.

Large companies often track the general mood of customers through the qualitative use of hash tags.

Instagram

It's not so much a social network as a place where you can share your photos, interesting images and short videos. But here we also use hash tags. "Инстраграм" thanks to the tags allows you to quickly find pictures of a certain category. This is how subscribers find new profiles.

Some users who have just registered in such networks note that using tags is inconvenient. Indeed, "VKontakte" tags are not as common as on other sites.

However, after a month, almost all claim that this system is convenient. Proper use of hash tags allows not only to quickly find the necessary information, but also to collect more "likes" and subscribers.