Hashtag – making a point for the last decade
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The hash key ‘#’ was initially found on telephone key pads, but it was the invasion of Twitter that saw it being used daily.
This year, this apparently pointless sign is celebrating 10 years in social media service.
The hash key, or the number symbol, was commonly used on the telephone keypad. On residential landline phones, the hash key would be used for service calls, where a pre-recorded voice would instruct callers to press the hash key for detailed information from a service provider. In workplaces, the hash key was used for a call extension. In cellphones, before ‘#’ became an iconic social media tool in 2007, a hash key was, and still is, used to confirm or to conclude the request when you check an airtime balance.
Ten years ago, the hash key was born again and newly named ‘hashtag’. Hashtag was used to organise the tweets on the social media network, Twitter, by topic, such as #ThrowBackThursday or #tbt. This hashtag usually trends on Thursdays when social media users share nostalgic memories with their followers via pictures, videos, songs and texts. The hashtag then groups these tweets or messages together making it easier for users to access one another in an effort to get that particular hashtag into the top 20 trending topics in the country.
Lindiwe Songelwa from Krugersdorp said she uses a hashtag to emphasise her point in a tweet on Twitter.
“My favourite hashtag is #justSaying. It’s short and straight to the point. You often find people on Twitter trying to prove how clever they are, by commenting on other people’s tweets, but inserting #justSaying after a statement makes it clear that what I’ve said is just my opinion, and makes cyber bullies back off from my tweets,” said Lindiwe.
According to Twitter, approximately 125 million hashtags are shared daily. Hashtags dominate the internet during live events such as award shows; for example, during the first ever DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards which took place recently, the South African public was encouraged to cast their votes for their favourite television entertainers more than a month ahead of the prestigious star-studded event with A-list stars. The award show received over a million votes and trended for at least four days on Twitter.
The hashtag has come a long way since American technology evangelist, Christopher Messinah created it 10 years ago. Hashtags are so popular that Facebook has also adopted the feature – each hashtag on Facebook has a unique URL (uniform resource locator) with a status update box at the top.
Current trends in different categories on Twitter:
• Television show: #IdolsSA – the live show live shows dominate Sundays afternoons on Twitter, as viewers tune in and cast their votes for their favourite music hopefuls in this reality singing show.
• Radio show: #Top40SA – every Saturday, music fans from Johannesburg tune in to Highveld Stereo and vote for their favourite songs on the top 40 charts of the most current trending songs.
• Song: #TholukuthiHey – this song started trending on Twitter even before it was recorded in a professional studio. A young man made the song in his room and titled it ‘Tholukuthi hey’. His friends loved it so much that they suggested he post it on Twitter so more people could hear it. In no time, DJ Euphonik saw the clip’s hashtag. He called the singer, recorded the song on the spot and about two weeks later, it was the biggest song on iTunes and he had performed it on various music shows in the country.
• Current affairs: #NSFAS – it if were not for this hashtag, many people probably would not have heard about the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) student who accidentally had R14million deposited into her Intellimali card account, instead of the R1 400 NSFAS intended to give her for her books and meals.
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