Borrowing one of the most popular and instantly-recognizable elements of Twitter, Facebook is launching hashtag support.
“Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr or Pinterest, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion,” Facebook Product Manager Greg Lindley explains in a post shared in the Facebook newsroom.
“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,” Lindley adds, summarizing a process with which most social media users are already familiar.
With this latest development, Facebook users can now:
- Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
- Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
- Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.
“Hashtags are just the first step to help people more easily discover what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in public conversations,” Lindley concludes. “We’ll continue to roll out more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags and deeper insights, that help people discover more of the world’s conversations.”
