Facebook Launches #Hashtags

Following rumors last month, Facebook has finally announced that it is adopting hashtags. What will be the impact for brands and agencies?

Every day, hundreds of millions of people use Facebook to share their thoughts on big moments happening all around them.

Whether it’s talking about a favorite television show, cheering on a hometown sports team or engaging with friends during a breaking news event—people on Facebook connect with their friends about what’s taking place all over the world.

Facebook says the move is an effort to promote more public conversations on the social network, after hashtags have become increasingly popular on Twitter.

With this new feature, Facebook is following in the footsteps of other social media sites like Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

The adoption is already effective for some users. Soon, all users will be able to:

• Search for a specific hashtag from the search bar.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

Facebook says it will be rolling out more features including trending hashtags.

My Opinion?
My first thought was: the hashtag belongs to Twitter, not to Facebook. But on the other hand, it’s not about which feature is owned by which network, it’s about what is most user friendly.

But now I’m imagining my Timeline filled with irrelevant, irritating and stupid hashtags. By brands that don’t understand how to properly use it.

Brrr! Time will learn us if we’ll like this…

What About You?
So what’s your first thought about Facebook’s hashtag feature? Would you use it? Let us know below.

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About the Author
Laurens Bianchi is an independent online marketing professional from the Netherlands and has been blogging on ViralBlog since 2008. Currently Laurens is also the Social Media Consultant for the Royal Dutch Football Association.