Hashtags Hacked
Hashtags are an essential part of social media. They help you reach more people, build your brand and increase engagement on your content. But what are hashtags? How do you use them? And how should you use them from platform to platform We'll answer all these questions below!
What are hashtags?
A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, to identify digital content on a specific topic.
Hashtags originated on Twitter on August 23, 2007, by Chris Messina who proposed using the pound sign (a hash in the United Kingdom) before keywords to organize the massive amount of information flowing through Twitter. The first known use was in an SMS message sent by Nathan Hubbard with the text "There's been a plane crash." That tweet went viral and spurred other users to create their own unique tags.
The term itself refers to the metadata tag used by most microblogging sites such as Twitter where any tweet can be readily identified and grouped together with others that have similar content or context.
Why you should use hashtags on Instagram
Instagram hashtags are a great way to build a community online, find new content, and increase visibility. When you use hashtags on Instagram, you’re telling your account that you want to be associated with those topics or interests. You can attach specific hashtags to your posts or simply make them public so anyone can use them when they post something that fits the same theme.
If someone searches for a hashtag that is relevant to what your brand does, they’ll see all of the posts from other accounts who have used it. For example: if I was looking for yoga classes in my neighborhood (and I don’t know any), I would search “yoga class Santa Cruz” on Instagram and see all of the businesses offering classes in my area. This could lead me straight into one of their websites where I could sign up for an upcoming class—or even just give them a call!
The key here is building up brand recognition within communities related to your products or services—you want people searching specifically for those words so they can find out more about who makes what they need at this particular moment in time!
Why you should use hashtags on Tiktok
Tiktok hashtags help the algorithm understand which audience to place your content in front of. Tiktok hashtags give the algorithm more of an understanding of your content's ‘niche’ (lifestyle content, art content, cat videos, etc).
Tiktok hashtags also help the algorithm understand who you are and what type of content you create. If you use #makeupaddict or #catvideo then that's a good indication for Tiktok that this is what your audience enjoys seeing from you! It helps them make sure they're showing the right people the right content.