Social Media Hashtags, at their simplest, were designed to act as a digital index, to help organize and increase discovery on the internet, and especially on social. Until the early 2000s, tagging was only used internally in the metadata of a webpage, primarily for SEO. Â As social media progressed, tagging evolved, with tags becoming a visible part of content itself.
When should you use hashtags? Nowadays, it’s better to use them sparsely, as you’ll notice that many major influencers do not use them on every social media post, especially on Twitter, where the practice originated. There is an exception on Instagram, where posts tend to be more prolifically tagged.
While it can be beneficial to use hashtags for large national events, such as the Grammys, it’s no longer mandatory. Social channels with consistent engagement tend to be built around communities of influence rather than topical searches. Social media monitoring tools such as NewsWhip Spike can show you both – the newest trends within 90 seconds of discovery and the key influencers or authors with the most impactful engagement.
Visit the NewsWhip Research Center: It’s the central intelligence hub of NewsWhip where we regularly publish reports around changes to the social platforms and event-specific insights (Black Friday, Christmas, Super Bowl, World Cup, Brexit, Presidential Elections and much more). This multidisciplinary team is comprised of Content Strategists, Editors, Data Scientists, Research Associates and outside partners, including leaders in academia. The center focuses on demystifying the spread of news and information and provides insightful interpretation of the vast social data that surrounds us.
