My grandma thinks a hashtag is something hippies play when they lose their hacky sack.

My generation recognizes hashtags from IRC channels, and Millennials (and pop culture in general) recognizes them as #the #OverUsed #Way #EVERYONE #ExpressesThoughtsonSocialMedia.

People overuse #hashtags for attention, and thus make it more difficult to search through grouped information. If you don’t believe me, search for something basic like #dogs on Instagram and see how many photos have nothing to do with canines.

It’s as sloppy as Napster was with individual song files instead of organized albums and anthologies. It’s also as hilariously misleading as the porn site that snagged whitehouse.com before it was inevitably shut down (though the banner says it’s coming back as of yesterday)..

There’s a fine line between categorizing social media posts for easier discovery and simply being a spammy, trolling, annoying, duck-faced piece of social media you know what.

By the end of this guide, you should know the difference.

The Purpose of #Hashtags

Like I just said two sentences ago, hashtags were originally used for the same thing they are today - categorizing and grouping information.

Much like regular words, the general consensus on context of certain hashtags makes them ideal for grouping and analysis using current technology. Anyone who’s ever studied artificial intelligence, chat bots, conversational interfaces, or even recommendation engines understands context is the key to making everything work.

Once computers can understand context, hashtagging will simply become an annoying overused fad like people who say “LOL” out loud or selfie sticks.

For now, however, conventional databases underlying most software applications in use today can make great use of hashtags.

Like the Dewey Decimal system, hashtags are useful for sorting through large volumes of information. They became popular on microblogging site Twitter, but have been implemented throughout the social network spectrum by this point.

Hashtags are a widely used part of marketing and pop culture, and you can find them on product packaging, on TV shows and commercials, news, special events, menus, and even on some people’s cars…

Everyone from Hollywood to Wall Street uses hashtags (or variations of) to track and analyze ratings, interest, engagement, and other important KPIs.

#TalkinginHashtags

Like slang, bell bottoms, and anything else that was cool at one time or another, once soccer moms and anyone over 30 started using hashtags, they quickly became overused.

#PeopleBeganTalkingInHashtagsInAVarietyofAnnoyingWaysThroughoutSocialMedia

#Obvious #Words #That #Should #Not #Be #Made #Hashtags #Are #Because #Of #People #Who #Write #Like #This

Like anything the general public has access to (compare a public restroom to your own), hashtags soon became warped, dirty, and overly used by people anxious to be popular on social media.

Thinking social media could drive real-life success instead of the other way around is a common misconception in today’s culture. While there are a few exceptions, generally people who are successful online run successful offline business operations. It’s not just luck of the draw.

While you may enjoy getting more likes and views on social media, you don’t need to go overboard and get crazy with hashtags.

As Buffer (a social media automation app) points out, Hashtags are popular on Instagram and Twitter, increasing engagement when used correctly. On Twitter, engagement drops after two hashtags, whereas on Instagram 11+ hashtags is most successful.

Meanwhile on Facebook posts without hashtags still reign supreme due to the more personal nature of the network’s connections, which is often friends and family supporting you instead of your brand.

Hashtags are somewhat similar to tags and categories used by WordPress and other blogging platforms to group posts and make them more searchable within the site. The general consensus of how many hashtags to use depends on the platform, whereas the usage of tags depends on the content.

Picking the Right Hashtags

Choosing hashtags is similar to selecting keywords to focus on during SEO and Content Marketing initiatives. Tools like Google AdWord’s Keyword Tool, Google Trends, SEMRush, and more can help you find keywords, and similar tools exist for hashtags.

Hashtagify, for example,  is a great tool to show you top related hashtags to terms you type into the site’s search engine. The app has Twitter and Instagram functionality.

Websta keeps a running list of the hottest trending hashtags across social media. This is a great place to check for hashtag trends.

Check out Social Media Examiner for more hashtag tracking tools.

Both Twitter and Instagram make hashtags searchable and display trending hashtags in the UI. Check out the competition or related photos to see what others are labeling their pics. Sometimes it pays to join the crowd. Sometimes they actually know where they’re going.

You can also partner with a social media marketing team in order to brainstorm and map out different hashtags. With a solid team behind you, hashtags can be created to track virality of posts and as a great branding experience.

#ShareACoke from CocaCola and #DunkintheDark from Oreo were hit branded hashtags and @Midnight on Comedy Central (along with just about every other late night and primetime show) often uses hashtags to help track viewer engagement. @Midnight #HashtagWars have consistently trended on Twitter, drawing respectable numbers on some nights.

So, while using hashtags can be great for stirring up excitement for your brand, promoting an upcoming event, or tracking branded posts, try not to overuse them.

Understand the hashtagging rules of the platform you’re on and be like the Romans when in Rome...