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On Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, the question arises as to what a hashtag
What does hashtag mean in social networks? – That’s what’s behind it
The term “hashtag” combines the two English words “hash” and “tag”. While the latter translates to “keyword”, “hash” refers to the double cross.
- A hashtag is a keyword that is set off from the rest of the text by a hash symbol. These terms are often placed at the end of a post or tweet. However, hashtags can also be integrated into the text flow.
- Users use them to categorize their posts thematically. On Facebook and Google+, this integrates the post into the keyword search. This means that other users will find your post when they search for the hashtag.
- The principle works similarly on Twitter. Here, too, you can search specifically for hashtags and thus find all tweets on a topic. You can also see which topics are currently particularly popular from the top list of hashtags.
- The tagging and indexing of content by users is now used on various platforms and forums. They make it easier for users to search and follow topics.
- To use a hashtag yourself, you just need to add a Chip”. Make sure that there are no spaces between the symbol and the term.
- For success on Instagram, three to five relevant hashtags are recommended; on TikTok, you can use up to seven hashtags. The rule is: quality over quantity – so avoid irrelevant or overly general terms like happy.
Using hashtags as a marketing tool
The use of hashtags has become an important marketing tool for companies on social networks such as X, Instagram and Facebook. However, the commercial use of hashtags also has legal aspects that companies should be aware of in order to avoid possible legal conflicts.
- Copyrights and Trademarks: When using hashtags, companies should be careful not to violate any copyrights or trademarks of third parties. It is important that companies do not use protected brand names or copyrighted content in their hashtags unless they have obtained the appropriate rights or permissions. The unauthorized use of such protected content can result in legal consequences such as cease and desist letters or claims for damages.
- Privacy: When using hashtags in the context of competitions or other promotions, companies should observe data protection regulations. For example, if the names of the winners are to be made public, the participants must be informed in advance and their consent must be obtained. When hashtags are used for commercial purposes, care must also be taken to ensure that the applicable data protection regulations are observed.
- Advertising and labeling requirements: In some countries, special rules and regulations apply to labeling advertising on social media. When using hashtags for commercial purposes, companies should ensure that they comply with applicable advertising labeling guidelines. This may mean clearly labeling advertising content as such or using certain hashtags to make the commercial nature of the post clear.
- Hashtags and artificial intelligence: Platforms like Instagram and TikTok use AI-based algorithms to analyze, evaluate and target content. Hashtags provide clear thematic signals and help the AI to understand what your post is about. In combination with visual and linguistic analysis, a comprehensive context is created that determines who gets to see the post.
- Social SEO: Hashtags are also an important part of social SEO, which is the optimization of content for internal search on social platforms. Users no longer just search on Google, but also directly on TikTok or Instagram for recipes, travel destinations or product recommendations. A targeted hashtag such as TravelTips2025 significantly improves the findability of your content.
