Twitter hashtag celebrates its bat mitzvah

On August 23, 2007, when Twitter user Chris Messina tweeted a suggestion to use the # symbol to group conversations on the micro-tweeting platform, hashtags were born.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2013. (photo credit: REUTERS/KACPER PEMPEL)
People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2013.
(photo credit: REUTERS/KACPER PEMPEL)
Mazal tov, Twitter. 
On August 23, 2007, when Twitter user Chris Messina tweeted a suggestion to use the # symbol in order to group conversations on the micro-blogging platform, hashtags were born.
Since then, according to a release by Twitter, hashtags have been used across Twitter and even outside of the platform, to help users “connect to the cultural zeitgeist in real time.”
“The connection to culture is more important than ever,” explained the social media giant in a release. “According to recent research by Twitter and MagnaGlobal, being culturally relevant is nearly as important as having positive brand perceptions.”
The research shows that a brand’s cultural involvement makes up 25% of a consumer’s purchase decision.
In Israel, some of the most popular hashtags this year are #jobopening, #israel, #money, #travel, #news, #love, #fashion, #tech and #metoo.
Twitter offered some of the greatest hashtag successes achieved by Israeli companies as part of its 12-year bat mitzvah celebration. These included a video by El Al’s #InternationalWomensDay – which has a Hebrew hashtag equivalent – that presented two female pilots for who “the sky is no limit.”

Another winner, said Twitter, was IBM Israel’s #CallforCode campaign, which invited developers to use their skills by joining a multi-year global initiative to drive positive and long-lasting change across the world with their code.

Twitter noted that the key to a successful hashtag is “both an art and science,” and said the best advice is to make hashtags short, distinct and easy to remember.


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