Recognizing Revolutionaries: Chris Messina and the #hashtag

In today’s world of social media, utilizing a hashtag on an Instagram post, in a blog, or while searching Twitter, can feel second nature. But, on this day in 2007, Chris Messina came up with this revolutionary way to categorize data that has shaped the way we have used social media ever since.

Messina noticed an opportunity to address the frustration of Twitter users over the lack of organization on the platform. Looking to Internet Relay Chat for inspiration, Messina looked for the best way to group content together. He chose the “#” symbol (called a pound or number sign in the United State and Canada and a hash in the United Kingdom) as the marker to be placed in front of keywords.

After some convincing, Twitter integrated the utilization of the hashtag into their functionality allowing for individuals to search, share, like and follow tweets based on topics that are trending or they are interested in. Today, nearly every social media platform utilizes some form of a hashtag.

Next time you see #iconicacreates #recognizingrevolutionaries or #acethefoodtruck, be sure to like and follow these hashtags for related content!

Sources: 

Jr., Tom Huddleston. “This Twitter User ‘Invented’ the Hashtag in 2007 – but the Company Thought It Was ‘Too Nerdy’.” CNBC, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/01/09/how-chris-messina-got-twitter-to-use-the-hashtag.html.

Lips, Allison. “History of Hashtags: How a Symbol Changed the Way We Search & Share.” Social Media Week, 20 Feb. 2018, socialmediaweek.org/blog/2018/02/history-hashtags-symbol-changed-way-search-share/.

About Recognizing Revolutionaries:

Iconica has set out to change the industry, one revolution at a time. Join us each week as we look back in history to recognize people, places, and moments that have made a revolutionary impact in our world.