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Facebook Finally Gets Hashtag Makeover

It’s NOT a rumor anymore! Facebook is finally rolling out #Hashtags, the ubiquitous social media markup that’s already become a cult symbol for Twitter users. The social networking giant announced on Wednesday that Hashtags are going to be a part of Facebook search in the coming days. Now, that’s a BIG thing to cheer up for the billion strong Facebookers around the cyber hemispheres.

Facebook Hashtag Mark Zuckerberg

The social media giant wishes to make it a tad easier for users to find content on specific topic that’s already on Facebook and hence, this much awaited initiative, was officially announced yesterday. From the user point of view, this new roll-out is surely going to make waves, a Facebook insider mentioned to Mashable. According to him, “people are already in the habit of including Hashtags in their updates, so why not make it public and let users benefit from it?”

The Hashtag Advantage

Hashtags are both “searchable” and “clickable”. By including “#” in your posts, you essentially increase the scope of your content being found on Facebook Search MORE easily, than ever before. Besides, Facebook Hashtags like its counterparts [used prolifically in other social networking and micro-blogging platforms like – Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google Plus] will be clickable. This makes them twice as effective in terms of searching breaking news and stories pertaining to your topic of interest.

What is more, Facebook users will have this unique facility of composing new posts and sharing them, directly from the Hashtag feed. This would double the advantage for businesses that bank on social sharing to expand their business outreach and increase engagement with their target audience.

Let’s check out the major benefits that you would be reaping, once “Hashtags” are activated on your Facebook profile.

  • You will be able to search a specific term from your FB search bar using a “#” in front, e.g. – #NBAPlayOffs or #IPLScore
  • Click on Hashtags posted on Facebook that originates from other social networking services like #Flickr, #Instagram, etc.
  • Compose your post directly from Hashtag feed and Facebook search results.
  • Share stories directly from your Hashtag search feed with your FB audience. Off course, users would still have the control over the audience of their posts – public, private and limited.

It’s still early to predict how effective Hashtags are going to be in the coming days for average users. Facebook announced that a few more days will take for them to make this feature available to its every user on the planet. As of now, only a handful (fortunate?) user will enjoy the “#” advantage.

How do YOU feel about this new announcement? Like it, love it, hate it? Shoot us a comment below.