#Hashtag #Facebook

Big News… Facebook is finally recognizing the meta data tag known as #hashtag, and is encouraging marketers to use hashtags in posts. At this time only using them is available, buying them is not.  The ability to tap into people posting hashtags about particular products or TV will create a new opportunity for marketers. It’s also great for Facebook, positioning them nicely up against Twitter when it comes to live sports events like the NBA championships, or pop culture events like the Grammys.  Ultimately Facebook would love to play in the same second screen game as Twitter. The problem is Twitter users generally have public profiles, whereas Facebook users do not. It’s quite easy to follow along #oscars2013 during the awards ceremony via Twitter, but with Facebook access to that data is going to be incredibly limited.  The data is there of course, just not all visible. It will be interesting to see how this one #playsout.