Hashtags are a necessary evil. Although I cringe at the sight of them on a Facebook post, their purpose is to enhance the social media experience. With the recent introduction of hashtags on Facebook, users can finally interact with people outside of their own Facebook “friends” list. Even though Facebook’s idea of introducing clickable hashtags is not an original or particularly innovative one, it’s obvious why Facebook jumped on board the hashtag bandwagon. Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and Pinterest have all utilized hashtags successfully, making them an important part of Internet culture.
Facebook is using hashtags to enable users to participate in “public conversations,” as stated on its Newsroom website. The power a hashtag generates may transform a trending topic into a moment capable of uniting people from different communities around the world.
“Hashtags can unite groups of people to a specific cause. An example is the #SDSULovesBoston and #SDSUlovesWest campaign we had on Twitter. Hashtags can also be used during live sporting events to get increased engagement,” San Diego State journalism and media studies senior David Frerker said.
With all the positive press SDSU has received during the past weeks there’s no reason for SDSU students to not publicly support SDSU via Facebook and connect with others using hashtags.
Social media is an effective tool SDSU students and alumni should engage with to promote school pride. Recently, #WeAreAztecs has been one of my favorite SDSU-related hashtags, as well as #AztecsForLife. These hashtags bring unity to the SDSU community and have the versatility to be used for a wide variety of SDSU-related achievements.
“The hashtag #WeAreAztecs is a perfect umbrella term for SDSU. Not only will current students be able to apply the hashtag but alumni will also be able to use #WeAreAztecs,” Frerker said.
Anything can become a hashtag, which is what makes them appealing and unique for social media users. Students who use social media should already be familiar with hashtags, so using them on Facebook should be a no-brainer.
Even though I am not a fan of overusing hashtags, I respect the enthusiasm the SDSU community shares on Twitter and other social networking sites.
