{"id":724,"date":"2013-11-14T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T03:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialstatus.io\/?p=724"},"modified":"2022-09-07T23:38:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T13:38:20","slug":"in-defence-of-the-number-hashtag-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialstatus.io\/in-defence-of-the-number-hashtag-on-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defence of the #Hashtag on Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the opinion pieces and endless scrutiny over Facebook\u2019s support for hashtags thus far, it surprises me that a really fundamental point seems to have been missed by the peanut gallery.<\/p>\n

(I do realise the irony contained here in this very article, offering yet further opinion and scrutiny on the topic<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

To set the scene, all the #outrage seems to have stemmed from a blog post by Simply Measured and another a couple of months later from Edgerank Checker suggesting that using hashtags in a Facebook post is pointless as it does nothing to increase reach or engagement. In fact Edgerank Checker suggested that hashtag usage negatively impacts the reach and engagement of the post.<\/p>\n

In essence, the Internet has declared hashtags a failure on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Internet says hashtags don\u2019t work in News Feed, a lean-back environment where you\u2019re being served content Facebook deems most relevant to you. Instead, hashtags work better in a lean-forward environment where you\u2019re actively searching for a topic, say on Twitter.<\/p>\n

Internet also says hashtags don\u2019t work on Facebook because it\u2019s inherently a private network, the majority of user profiles are private so clicking a hashtag won\u2019t yield many useful results, just a whole lot of brand content. Yuck.<\/p>\n

Internet also says because hashtags were non-clickable for so long on Facebook, they were perceived to be kinda spammy over time and this negative connotation has remained to this day, despite the new functionality rolled out in June this year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although these points are certainly valid, here\u2019s (hopefully) a fresh perspective on this topic:<\/p>\n

For most brands, digital is used typically to amplify traditional campaigns. More savvy brands see digital\u2019s role as the campaign centrepiece rather than as a secondary megaphone. If you\u2019re a brand that\u2019s spending 5, 6 or even 7 figures on an advertising campaign you\u2019ll likely be hitting a lot of channels (both traditional and digital) with your message.<\/p>\n

The hashtag has excited a lot of marketers as its a single, immediately recognisable expression that most people understand as a digital mechanism for finding and attributing content to a particular topic. Additionally when front and centre in a campaign, hashtags covertly convey three other aspects in the sub-text of its usage:<\/p>\n