Why Facebook is stealing the #hashtag from Twitter

Hint: It's not for your convenience

Mark Zuckerberg
(Image credit: Kim White/Getty Images (Illustration By: Elena Scotti))

Facebook "is taking its business rivalry with Twitter Inc. into the realm of symbols: #Feud," say Evelyn M. Rusli and Shira Ovide in The Wall Street Journal. Yes, fresh off its big redesign, "Facebook is working on incorporating the hashtag, one of Twitter's most iconic markers, into its service" at some unspecified point in the future. Clicking on a word with a hashtag in front of it — say, #copycat — would immediately bring up all Facebook posts with the same hashtag, allowing Facebook's billion-plus active users to join in a giant virtual conversation. This helps Facebook, say Rusli and Ovide, because it gives "users more reason to stay logged in and see more ads."

Of course, plenty of folks are booing this move. For instance: "#ugh," says Sam Biddle at Gizmodo.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.