Facebook copies Twitter again, launches Hashtags

Facebook and Twitter have been copying features from one another for a while now, we've seen Facebook change Subscribe button to Follow already and then the implementation of Verified pages and profiles just like Twitter.

Facebook is following the Twitter way yet again! And this time around it is the good old Hashtag/Search feature to discover more content on their platform. #Hashtags became immensely popular courtesy Twitter & active social media audience were already using #hashtags in their regular status updates as it became a habit. Here's what Facebook had to say:

Starting today, hashtags will be clickable on Facebook. Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, or Pinterest, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion. When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you'll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic.

So, what are Hashtags according to Facebook?

Hashtags are just the first step to help people more easily discover what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in public conversations. We'll continue to roll out more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags and deeper insights, that help people discover more of the world's conversations.

By using this feature a user can now:

• Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

Twitter has been struggling to put its own search mechanism in place via Hashtags for quite some time now, wonder how quickly and perfectly Facebook will implement the same feature considering the amount of data they hold. Wonder how would the whole privacy bit come into play if a person mentions a #hashtag in their facebook update.

Also, would we end up seeing hashtag trending contests on Facebook too? Damn.