The hashtag (#) just turned 11. Is it time to celebrate?

On the hashtag's 10-year anniversary last year, Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone recounted how the hashtag symbol came to be so iconic

 

The hashtag(#) turned 10 last year. Last week it turned a year older.

In my younger days, the symbol # used to denote the number sign. In Western markets it stood for the pound sign. Word nerds called it the octothorpe. But for the past 11 years since it was first used on Twitter, the '#' is famous as the hashtag.

Today the hashtag is not restricted to just Twitter (an average usage of 140 million times a day) but is equally frequently used on Facebook, Instagram and every other social media platform. More importantly, the hashtag today transcends social media, and has started to connote a higher purpose, and has become the unifying symbol for a body of thought (or resistance) … #MeToo for example spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media (as also traditional mass media) to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. It is today a borderless worldwide movement that makes headlines every other day demolishing lofty reputations of celebrity superstars and haloed organizations. The hashtag before the MeToo has become a global unifier, a universal beacon that connects millions to the idea and the protest.

On the hashtag's 10-year anniversary last year, Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone recounted how the hashtag symbol came to be so iconic. Read More