Facebook Hashtags Are Here to Increase Discovery of Public Conversations

It’s official, Facebook hashtags are here.  Starting today, hashtags will be clickable on Facebook. Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion.  In order to create a hashtag, simply add a # immediately before any word.  For example, #tech or #NBAFinals.

If you have been living under a rock, hashtags were made popular on Twitter as a way to find and discover tweets about particular topics of themes.  And we also somewhat recently reported that hashtags would be making their way to Facebook, so it appears that the report has finally come to fruition.

So how will Facebook hashtags work?  When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you will see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic.  In addition to using hashtags on Facebook, you will also be able to:

• Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals or #GameofThrones.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

According to Facebook, the implementation of hashtags is just the first step to help people find out what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in public conversations.  The company also noted that they will continue to roll out more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags.  It certainly sounds very Twitter-esq if you ask me.

What do you think of the move by Facebook to incorporate hashtags?  Like or not?