Facebook is preparing to introduce Hashtag support for wall posts, following a move already institute by Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and various other social networks.
The # symbol is a popular way for users to share common threads. For example users may talk about President Obama by using the hashtag #PresidentObama.
The move not only allows Facebook users to share a common thread, it allows Facebook to create a better social search platform that is now dependent on a common statement type.
With Graph Search already at the forefront of Facebook’s efforts to better its own search platform the hashtag support will come in handy. For example, users can create conversations which might be discovered for one search term and ultimately lead to deeper searches.
The move would also mean that users do not need to LIKE a topic or page in order to engage in an FB conversation. With Likes and Hashtags Facebook is able to increase the likelihood of finding a topic of interest.
Facebook’s entire business model is based off its ability to draw in new revenue types and hashtags could allow for super rich targeting that will ultimately lead to better user targeting for demographical and topical advertising.
The hashtag support could also eventually make its way into Bing and other semantic search engines who integrate with the Facebook platform.
Are you excited for Facebook’s hashtag support?