Entry #7 - The Hashtag Industry

 The era of digital age is here. An estimated 3.6 billion people are registered on a social media platform that is used on a daily basis and has shaped the world into what it is today. In 2007, the first hashtag was used by a user in order to relate their post to a specific topic search and after that, the world was never the same. 

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Initially, the,,#'' sign was used for music sheets, phone numbers, and grouping categories. Today, the international symbol has been used in many posts. A large number of hashtags are used to bring awareness to some kind of situation. The #icebucketchallenge was a tag used in order to support ALS and was in an attempt to raise money for the research. Once clicking on this tag, thousands of people showed up on the screen, nominating others to participate in this challenge. The challenge consisted of pouring a bucket of ice water onto one's body. Under the video was usually a caption with the tag "#icebucketchalleneg" relating the post to a category. In one year alone an estimated $220 million was raised for research. 

With the popularity of social media, the power of hashtags can be extraordinary, reaching more people than ever. Personally, I do not like social media, but there are cases where I do think it can cause good; the ALS ice bucket challenge for example. I think the problem is when someone's caption under a post is flooded with hashtags that have no meaning and are not connected or related to the post. I feel as though hashtags should only be used for good and not useless nonsense that floods social media pages and has no meaning.

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Professional campaigns and advertisement settings have adapted the usage of the hashtag. Brands and companies have discovered the boost in sales and engagement increased with the usage of hashtags. It helps the target audience find your company or business through these tiny links embedded in captions, comments, or posts. 

Hashtags can connect people in positive ways, boost advertisements that reach the targeted audience, and bring awareness to social or economic issues. I think hashtags are a great source of connections, but when they get overused, they lose their meaning causing them to lose their purpose.