What is a hash tag?

[Strawboss]

OK, not total computer illiterate but no cell phone, no cable, no internet at home, never texted, think, speak, write the King's English . I've eaten hash, smoked hash, hashed things out, even marched across hash marks on a football field but can someone give me the short bus version of what a hash tag is or what its used for since everyone but me seems to automatically know what one is. Some sort of marker or sticky thing to keep it somewhere or make you see it?

[Conrad]

Back in my day we called it an octothorpe. Then it was called a pound/number sign.

It seems that those labels weren't hip enough so now we have the hashtag.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

[Rhino]

The beginning of all threads started on the social media site Twitter.com. Example: #MarsCuriosity is a thread about the Mars curiosity rover. You have to have a twitter account to use it. Once you have a twitter account you can follow these threads, start threads or comment on threads if you have permission. I follow the above example any time the owner write something about the rover I see it on my twitter app on my phone. The phrase "hash tag" is just a way of talking about a such a thread. In a face to face conversation I might say "If you want news about the mars rover use hash tag mars curiosity" instead of spelling out "pound sign", "m", "a"....

[Strawboss]

That doesn't make sense to me, if all threads are marked then all threads will be followed, why not just follow the threads you want? Or is it some sort of flagging device that's attached to your computer that when you mark a thread on YOUR computer, it will automatically follow or go to that particular thread on YOUR computer only?

[Rhino]

That doesn't make sense to me, if all threads are marked then all threads will be followed, why not just follow the threads you want?

Exactly. You only follow the threads you want.

[Rhino]

see my revised explanation.

[Strawboss]

But  it seems that its being used as a marketing device to say,"hey, look at this, or follow this". So, why not just tell everyone to hash every thread ever made so everyone can follow every thread ever made? I mean its just a device to tell people to "look at me".

[sherob]

*DING* 

[Rick Hall]

*DING*

Fail. You need to type: #*DING*

[sherob]

I'm not a twit... or twitter-er. 

[ZG]

[Rhino]

But  it seems that its being used as a marketing device to say,"hey, look at this, or follow this".

Yes that is what advertisers do.

So, why not just tell everyone to hash every thread ever made so everyone can follow every thread ever made?

There are billions of threads so impossible to follow even a tiny fraction. That is why people try to get noticed to get more followers.

I mean its just a device to tell people to "look at me".

So you DO understand

[sherob]

You mean you can't follow all the tweets by doing this, #*? 

[Strawboss]

Guess I'm a quick learner. Whew, thought I was missing something, guess I'm not. Thanks for explaining, its always better here than on Wikipedia.

[Two Skies]

I thought is was when some twisted neighbor dropped a bag of hash on your doorstep and rang the doorbell...

If it is the 'fun' kind of hash, presumably to throw law enforcement off his trail/on to yours!  Damn hash heads anyways!

'You're it!'


I do get the twitter reference, though, although I am not a twit.