Oh, the #hashtag! Some love them, some can't stand them, others overuse it and many still don't understand why they exist. For those of you who are still a little confused about the subject, a hashtag is a word or group of words prefixed with the hash or pound symbol. They provide a means of grouping information on the same topic, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it. Hashtags are mostly used as unmoderated discussion forums, and any hashtag, if promoted by enough individuals, can "trend" and attract more users to discussion. On Twitter, when a hashtag becomes extremely popular, it will appear in the "Trending Topics" area of a user's homepage.
Hashtags are neither registered nor controlled by any user, and can't be "retired" from public usage. They also do not contain any set definitions, meaning that a single hashtag can be used for any number of purposes. Hashtags often become more recognized as associated with particular topics of discussion based upon a more specific spelling of the hashtag. Hashtags are also used informally to express context around a given message, with no intent to actually categorize the message for later searching, sharing, or other reasons. This can help express humor, excitement, sadness or other contextual cues.
Given the popularity of the hashtags, and a lot of times the ridiculous overuse of this tool, Jimmy Fallon took the chance to create what we could call a PSA on the excessive use of the hashtag, and since it was Timberlake Tuesday (a recurring series of sketches on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" featuring "Suit & Tie" singer Justin Timberlake), Justin also made his special appearance. They took a normal conversation and littered it with the taxonomical phrases following the little symbol that has got the world upside down basically. Their uproarious, freewheeling, and rapid-fire conversation uses hashtags to link "Duck Dynasty," Missy Elliot, "Orange Is the New Black," Barney, Ray Romano, sexy ghosts, Italian Renaissance painters, bling, the Cookie Monster, the Ice Age, cavities, "We Can't Stop," and more oddball topics -- all in the span of about 90 seconds.
Check the video below and let us know if you're a #hashtag over-user too! #idontcare #ilovehashtags #YOLO #iwantacookietoo.
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