I always find it intriguing how the major social media sites add features that are found on other social media sites. Much of the time, those changes work for me, that is once I get used to them.

One of the latest changes is that you will find hashtags on Facebook, whereas before these were found only on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr. Facebook introduced their use in mid-June of this year.

Here is a link to Facebook’s explanation of using a hashtag (#) before a word or phrase: https://www.facebook.com/help/587836257914341

What is the Point of Hashtags?

Quoting from the June 13, 2013 article by Greg Lindley “Public Conversations on Facebook” in the Newsroom feature of Facebook:

“Hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion. When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you’ll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic.”

For a link to the entire article, go to http://newsroom.fb.com/News/633/Public-Conversations-on-Facebook

The key word to me in the above quote is “context.” I have a friend traveling in Europe who frequently uses a hashtag followed by a reference to her 2013 Europe trip. Depending on her privacy settings, anyone else typing in that hashtag can see her posts. Keep in mind that for each post, you can select a privacy setting.

Some Reasons to Use a Hashtag:

• People searching for your posts on that topic can easily find those posts among all the posts you make.
• Folks with a common interest, such as traveling to Europe, can get ideas for places to visit or perhaps things to watch out for.
• People can learn more about a brand or company through the use of hashtags.

Three Things to Keep in Mind When Using Hashtags

About two weeks after Facebook introduced the use of hashtags, Jane Susskind came out with a very helpful article pointing out some key considerations when using hashtags:

“1) You can select who can see your posts.

If you have already altered your privacy settings, this will, by default, be set to those settings. But, as reported previously on IVN, 13 million Facebook users have never changed their privacy settings. With 28 percent of Facebook users sharing all, or almost all, or their wall posts with an audience wider than just their friends, this could have serious implications if you haven’t already changed your privacy settings.

2) Comments will not show up in threads…yet.

Even if your friends use hashtags on your page, your post will remain private if your settings are already private.

3) Old hashtags are still visible.

If, like many Facebook users, you have used a hashtag in a previous post, these posts will be aggregated in Facebook’s current database surrounding that hashtag.”

For the rest of her article “What Facebook Hashtags Mean for Your Privacy,” in the
Social Ballot, go to: http://ivn.us/social-ballot/2013/06/26/what-facebook-hashtags-mean-for-your-privacy/

Even though I am regularly use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, I am still catching on to using hashtags, even on the sites where they have been prevalent for some time. Eventually I probably will start using them, but in some ways, like this one, I am a late adapter.

Back to You

Have you started using hashtags on Facebook? What has been your experience so far in using them? Do you already use them on other social media platforms?

It is always interesting to find out what others think about new features of social media sites.

Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers’ Social Media Tutor, helps people relatively new to social media to become more effective and comfortable in their use of this medium. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com