The Facebook #

#Irrelevant #Phrases #Facebook #Statusupdates

Are you wondering why all of your Facebook friends are using the # in almost every post they make?  They're turning what they think is a "clever phrase" into one long string of words smashed together.  Sometimes the # makes sense, other times, it's just to tag some phrase they just made up and they think it is clever, but the rest of the world would never understand it, nor would they care about it. 

Don't you want to just comment to them with "you're not THAT funny" or "Stop with all of this hashtagging on your status updates!" 

#ANNOYING  #SHUTUP

So what IS this # frenzy on Facebook all about?  The "real" reason behind using it is really about marketing about trending topics in real time, and making it easier to find what all is being said about those topics.  Just like on Twitter, you can search within Facebook for a topic using the hashtag to see what is trending.

For example, if you search  #superbowl you'll see all conversations where users hashtagged the superbowl.  It's really a chance to find a topic that you're interested in, and again, join the conversation on a social platform with others who share the same interest.

Again, this is a Social Networking Site...aka...where people go to exchange ideas and information with each other! Adding a # to your status update changes it from "just another status update" to a searchable public status update, that may be grouped into a pool of similarly trending topics.  Yes! Now you can search for people who are commenting on the same topic that you're interested in.  Now you can chat up someone with a shared interest. Afterall, isn't that what social networking sites are all about?

You probably have friends that are posting a status update such as:  "It's a sunny day. #Icutmylawninmyplaidshorts

Now, unless #Icutmylawninmyplaidshorts is a new Macklemore song, or this is being tweeted or "Facebooked" by a celebrity, you're not going to see this post trending because it is something that your friend posted that is really not relevant, or trending.

On the other hand, if they posted "It's a sunny day. #grasscutting #spring  Chances may be a little better to show up in a public # search with more of a trending commonly used # phrase. 

The power of the # for brands on Facebook is very effective as well.  A retailer or a brand can # their brand name and viola! Any conversation they started or others commented on can now be searched for and found on Facebook.  Again--the power of the search!

Remember, #don't #be #annoying

(C) Amy Gajewski 2014