It may come as no surprise that Facebook plans to introduce the hashtag, and some may wonder why it is only just utilising the popular symbol when Instagram, Google+ and Tumblr have already welcomed its use to organise content. While many Facebook users regularly include hashtags in their statuses to express their emotions, it is yet to work in an organisational form where people can join conversations or find topics.
However, there is much debate about whether or not the hashtag will be a bad move for the social media website. Here are a few reasons why it might just be:
- One of Facebook’s biggest appeals is its clean and sleek appearance; however, the introduction of the # could only lead to messy pages that the website’s not really designed for.
- Facebook is under heavy criticism at the moment due to many privacy concerns, especially with the introduction of the new Facebook ‘Home’ software for Android phones, as it will allow the social network to track a user’s every move. However, many people who usually have their account set to private may feel their privacy could be invaded when their posts might be compiled into topics using hashtags.
- While Twitter and Facebook are two of the biggest social networks at the moment, they are very different to each other. Facebook offers a forum for users to connect more with their family and friends, unlike Twitter which is used more as a global forum. Facebook posts are therefore a lot more personal and less confrontational. So, due to the individual nature of the website, the context of a post might be a little broad to effectively use the hashtag.
- Few people head to Facebook to actively seek out content and instead usually log in to check their notifications from their friends or scroll through users’ posts. Many people also filter their news feed options so they only read about the followers whose posts interest them. Hashtags are therefore the antithesis of what many Facebook users want to receive, as they focus on worldwide discussions which are only filtered by the topic.
- People don’t accept friend request from certain users as they don’t want to read their posts or vice versa. Therefore, this demonstrates that many users most likely have no interest in reading strangers’ statuses.
The hashtag offers a wealth of marketing opportunities online, but at what cost? The new changes could ultimately come at the expense of the very reason why people use the social network. So, should Facebook mess with something that isn’t broke? Or is it important it changes with the times to keep up with the latest online trends? Only time will tell.