Why Did Facebook Add Twitter’s Iconic Hashtag?

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In the same week that the word “tweet” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, it has also been added to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). By so doing, anything that is accompanied by a hashtag will immediately be made click-able.

Why Did Facebook Add Twitter's Iconic Hashtag?

In addition, to making your status updates more visible across the Facebook network, users need to be cognizant of the fact that any prior status updates that incorporated a hashtag will automatically become searchable. But Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has not added the use of the hashtag to receive more complaints from users over privacy issues, it has begun using the hashtag, just as Google+ and others have recently for one reason —according to Mike Isaac at All Things D, advertising revenue. Specifically, revenue from the second-screen audience.

People Use Devices While Watching TV, So TV # Are Coming Too

According to Nielsen data, the group that has tracked televisions ratings and share for decades, nearly half of smartphone owners and tablet owners (46 percent and 43 percent, respectively) said they use their devices as second screens while watching TV every day. This is why Twitter has been pushing its advertisers to include a hashtag at the end of every ad—to provide users with an opportunity to see what others are saying about the product. Additionally, Twitter has encouraged television producers to add hashtags to the bottom of the screen to drive conversation about programming that smartphone and tablet owners are watching and tweeting.

If a number of people this last week were enjoying the U.S. Open (golf), advertisers might find a ripe audience for a promoted tweet for financial services, insurance, Mercedes, and golf fans’ products under #USOpen.

Facebook Looks to Capitalize on Twitter’s Hashtag Advertising

According to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), there are between 88 million and 100 million people active on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) during prime-time television hours. By adding the hashtag, Facebook is hoping to add a stop gap to Twitter’s advertising revenue they are able to sell based on hashtag use.

Twitter is being used by more and more demographics as people become more familiar with Twitterspeak. The # and @ nomenclature can only be strengthened by the adoption of the hashtag by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and presumably others in the near future. Vine, Instagram, and Google+ among others have adopted it, so its hard to envision other social sites not going the same route.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has presently rolled-out hashtags to a limited amount of computer users and has yet to introduce it to its mobile apps.

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