Facebook adopts #hashtag from Twitter

Facebook announced they would be borrowing a page from Twitter’s manual and introducing hashtags (#) onto its site.

According to The Week, no specific date has been announced for the introduction, but soon Facebook users who click on a word preceded by a hashtag will bring up all Facebook posts tagged with that hashtag.

Hashtags have become an important marker for Twitter. In the past week they were instrumental during the papal conclave and even signalling the Catholic Church’s newest leader #PopeFrancis.

But there’s also a monetary angle towards the hashtag. Films, television shows, and even recording artists often use promoted hashtags on Twitter’s main page.

The Washington Post reports that “Twitter is expected to make about half a billion dollars in advertising revenue this year, according to eMarketer. Facebook generated $4.3 billion last year from advertising”.

This is not the first time that Facebook has looked to Twitter to re-boot its image.

When Facebook launched its subscriber list it certainly seemed to be moving towards a Twitter-specific demographic.

Similarly, acquiring Instagram last year also showed Facebook was interested in poaching some of Twitter’s camera-ready users who regularly post photos of epic dinners or cute cats.Especially with its mostly-panned redesign, this copycat move is just further proof for critics that Facebook has “jumped the shark”.

The edginess Facebook faced way back when The Social Network movie was still in theaters has seemed to erode in recent months.

Teenagers, in particular, seem vulnerable towards abandoning the social media platform because it’s simply too toxic or even dangerous.

Internet trolling, a relative small staple of Twitter, has become a major factor for teenage bullying on Facebook.

But the numbers for Facebook don’t lie. In October of 2012 the site passed its one billionth user, meaning one of every seven people has a Facebook page.

No timetable has been announced for hashtags on Facebook.