MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The power of reinvention is a useful strategy in a writing system. Signs, shapes, and symbols have long helped to create visual representations of language. These visual representations are often recycled and refashioned over time, as has been the case with the hashtag. Formerly known as the pound sign, the hashtag has reanimated the way conversation takes place on the Internet with its new name. The hashtag took on its new role from Twitter, the social networking and microblogging site, which used the symbol as a means for filing and archiving its content. As users learned to decipher this method of filing and began tagging their own messages, or tweets, to target their audience, the hashtag became noteworthy. It even became part of the way we speak – “hashtag true.” Before being known as the hashtag, the # symbol has had a complicated history. Originally termed the octothorpe for its eight fields, the symbol has had a myriad of uses, including the sharp sign musical notation, an editorial notation for inputting a space, and even as a tic-tac-toe board. More recently, it can add to its resume crowdsourcing conversation.