How Influential Have Hashtags Become on Twitter?

Twitter has traced the birth of the term “hashtag” to August 2007, during the early days of the social networking service. On 23 August 2007, Chris Messina -- officially the 1,186th user on Twitter -- tweeted "How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?" He thought that the pound or hash symbol (#) would be useful in organizing group conversations about related tweets. He also suggested that Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone consider adopting the practice. Stone sarcastically responded: “Sure, we'll get right on that.” Now, 10 years later, the lowly symbol that used to indicate a number (as in #2 pencil) has become a social media staple. About 125 million hashtags are used by Twitter's 328 million users every day.

Four intersecting lines, one useful tool:

• A devastating fire in San Diego County in 2007 sparked the first widespread use of a hashtag -- #sandiegofire allowed users to easily track updates.
• In 2009, Twitter officially adopted the hashtag, adding hyperlinks so that users could click on a hashtag to instantly search for tweets on the same topic.
• Hashtags are now also used on other social networks, including Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook.