The new explaining feature of hashtags had been spotted by the Wall Street Journal albeit Twitter declined to elaborate on the test run. Users can even search for hashtags found nearby which could come in handy during live events such as music festivals and when there are local emergencies.
One example is when a user searches for #tbt. Twitter would explain the hashtag by displaying underneath the words "Throwback Thursday." Other popular hashtags that would start displaying an explanation would include #oitnb "Orange Is The New Black" (which is a TV series) and #smh "Shaking My Head."
There are also hashtags with credible associations that come with them such #manutd "Manchester United," #rt "Russia Today," #lol "League of Legends," and #hhldn "Hacks/Hackers London."
However, not all hashtags would have an explanation. Some examples include #ConfessionNight, which is used when Twitter users are tweeting their secret confessions, and #MH17, which talks about the Malaysia Airlines' plane crash in Ukraine.
The hashtag is represented by the # symbol. As Twitter is constantly filled with an ever-changing stream of "tweets," a hashtag will make it easier for a user to follow a specific topic. At the end of every tweet, the user places a hashtag together with a keyword, such as #weather, to easily manage group comments on that particular topic.
Adding a hashtag has become a useful tool in social networking for users to engage themselves in online conversations. The benefit is even more apparent during live events such as sports, television shows, and political debates. Moreover, advertisers find it to be an easy way for them to reach a target audience.
Earlier in the week, Twitter rolled out its Q2 financial earnings which showed an increase in revenues by up to $312 million. There was also an increase in the number of monthly active users from 255 million to 271 million during the first quarter of 2014. While these numbers are definitely a boost for Twitter, they still have a long way to catch up with Facebook.
With 58 million tweets generated every day, it can be very challenging to know and understand each of the added hashtags. The new feature could somehow minimize any confusion and could help the user to confirm the meaning of a particular hashtag based on the context of a tweet.
The hashtag explaining feature is found to be available for Twitter's iOS app. Other platforms such as mobile Android and desktop don't have the feature at the moment.
