How Hashtags Changed Internet and Human History

When you enter any social media platform today, you will see #IranProtests and #MahsaAmini hashtags will come out. Masha Amini, a 22-year-old young woman in Iran,in a way that does not comply with the dress code’ She was detained and subjected to violence by the ‘morality police’ because her hair was showing on the street.

These hashtags, which were on the agenda after Masha Amini was in a coma for days and then passed away, suddenly made us hear the same name and story everywhere on the internet. Moreover, in addition to hearing this name and story, the same hashtags bring together thousands of people in Iran on the same denominator. started a social movementThese hashtags were used to raise the issue in different parts of the world.

So how did this happen? How did the hashtag come to the head of a word and manage to make it the world’s biggest agenda?

It was a big fire that made the hashtag hashtag

Probably many of us have hashtags in our lives from the moment we start using social media. The hashtag, which is one of the numerous symbols that has emerged in the internet world and is widely used, has developed over the years. changing the history of both humanity and the internet. managed to stand out from all other symbols.

This symbol is a representation of a communication and communication culture, It happened in 2007 with a few incidents. Chris Messina, a name in the internet culture and industry, who works at companies such as Google and Uber, published a blog in August 2007 and proposes to use hashtags to easily reach related topics on Twitter. He says that the reason is that irrelevant topics come up very often on Twitter and they talk a lot in the friend environment (comprising software and computer engineers, developers).

The reason why Messina chose the # symbol, which we now call hashtag, to solve this problem, is the instant messaging system called IRC (Internet Relay Chat). In this system, which was developed in 1988 and used for ‘chat’ over the internet for many years, ‘#’ is used to separate the subject headings. Realizing that this icon, which is popular in the software language, makes things much easier, Messina said, thinks a similar use should happen on Twitter and publishes the blog post.

After sharing this idea in his blog post, Messina also presents it to Biz Stone, one of the founders of Twitter. Stone, on the other hand, stated that he did not consider this use as a feature to be included in the system and told Messina ‘what are you waiting for, use it tells what he said…

Then Messina and her friends start using hashtags on Twitter to talk about different topics. If the hashtag name is In the software world, the # sign is named as a hash. is coming. Thus, the hashtag expression is formed.

The first use of hashtags for a widespread event, which began to spread on Twitter over the course of several months, took place in October 2007. In a massive fire in San Diego that resulted in the evacuation of more than 300,000 peopleusers on Twitter #SanDiegoFire He starts communicating with the hashtag. Thus, for the first time, hashtags are used for communication and information sharing in a social event.

Hashtags, which have been used by an ever-expanding audience for two years, Officially included in Twitter’s system in 2009. The Twitter team develops a special search tool for hashtags, making it easy to use, and then, over time, hashtags become an agenda setting tool on Twitter.

2010 was the year the whole world saw how effective hashtags can be in social movements

After all these developments, the first The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in 2010 and the start of social movements, whose fuse is ignited in social media, On the other hand, after the economic depression in Europe, the ‘anti-austerity’ riots strengthened on social media.showed how effective hashtags can be in social events.

The Arab Spring and the anti-austerity movement in Europe continued over the next few years, with social media playing a major role in both movements. Because society uses social media uncensored and as a fast communication and communication tool had owned. In the ‘Gezi Events’ that took place in our country in the following years, Twitter and hashtags were the most important player on the agenda and the biggest discussion item.

All these movements, from events that affected the whole world over the years to narrower social events, have been used as a form of hashtags.means of seeking justice or making a voice paved the way for its use.

Over the years, countless hashtags, many of which you will still remember, have taken over the world agenda and made a great impact.

#BlackLivesMatter

Named Trayvon Martin in America in 2012 17 year old black teenDespite being unarmed, he was shot dead in a street for no apparent reason. George Zimmerman, who killed him, was released after several hours of questioning. This event resulted in the emergence of #BlackLivesMatter, one of social media’s biggest activism hashtags. The hashtag has spread all over the world and has now become an icon in defense of the rights of black people to live. The same hashtag, another black American in 2020 After George Floyd was murdered by a police officer It was on the rise and turned into a big movement all over the world. In many countries in America and Europe, #BlackLivesMatter protests were held. Keeping the issue on the agenda with hashtags and the protests were effective in the process of punishing the murderer police.

#ALSIceBucketChallenge

Hashtags It is not only used for events that the community reacts to or wants to make a voice for. One of the biggest and first examples of this is the #ALSIceBucketChallenge that almost everyone will remember. With this hashtag, users on social media emptied their heads with ice buckets of water. The hashtag and the reason for the current were to raise awareness and raise donations for ALS disease. This campaign has been so successful that the ALS Association hashtag campaign has garnered more than 700,000 donors during its active time, and Raised more than $48 million in donations in about a month.

#HeForShe, #MeToo, #IstanbulSözleYaşatır

One of the issues that hashtags are most frequently encountered as social awareness and a mass movement is women’s rights. Many movements have been started on this issue both in our country and in the world, and each of them has been very effective.

Launched by Emma Watson, a movement that invites men to women’s struggle for equality. #HeForShe The movement created a strong awareness by being talked about for a long time. Drawing attention to the harassment and violence experienced by women in the business world, she started a revolutionary movement in this regard. #MeToo has created great controversy by drawing attention to women’s problems, especially in giant industries like Hollywood.

In our country, it was started after the termination of the Istanbul Convention. sharing black and white photos and the hashtag #IstanbulSözleYaşatır It had an impact on keeping the issue on the agenda and was also effective in the ongoing litigation processes.

#PrayforJapan, #YouAintNoMuslim, #StopFundingHate

Hashtags are also what are considered ‘different’, segregated and separated by borders around the world. bringing communities closer together provided. After the great earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, the whole world is using the hashtag #PrayforJapan. They showed their support to Japan.

Especially in Europe and America To prevent ‘terrorist attacks’, which are shown as the source of Islamophobia, from being associated with all Muslims and #YouAintNoMuslim, which is used to show the world the bad side of Islamophobia, had a huge impact on this. By associating Islam with terrorism and violence, it was ensured that the prejudice against Muslim societies was prevented. Today, the perception on this subject has changed greatly with the effect of such hashtags. Muslim visibility increased.

It is a big problem that concerns the whole world and results in acts that turn into hate crimes. #StopFundingHate movement launched against anti-immigrant rhetoric, By standing against the prejudice and hatred towards immigrants, it even paved the way for the editorial policies of major European media organs to change.

#AnimalRightsLawNow

Social media has been used very effectively to raise awareness about animal rights in our country. Bringing the demanded law for the protection of animal rights to the agenda with the hashtag #Animal RightsYasasıImmediate and keeping it on the agenda for a long time created visibility on this and with the important steps taken afterwards, important targets have been achieved, although not the final target in this regard.

Is there nothing wrong with hashtags?

This question is actually a question asked by those who oppose hashtags that create social movements and try to reflect them as ‘edited games’. But we all need to ask.

Hashtag activism Of course, this situation, which even has a name in the literature, has negative aspects. both socially and psychologically While addressing this subject, which still continues to be discussed about its effects, it is necessary to mention its negative effects.

The first-line status hashtag activism often ‘personals’I shared, pushing it to an inertia of the ‘done’ type making many issues a rapidly flashing agenda. The proven power of social media has taken such a good place in our psychology that most of the time, when an injustice or a situation is contrary to our ideas, it is necessary to share about it. enough to ease our conscience and believe that we are doing our part.. This brings with it social problems that have been discussed but not resolved.

The second and most important point is that hashtags that have the power to spread the news quickly. impact on the spread of false information. The vast majority of internet users have the urge to share information they see without confirming its accuracy. This means that a fake agenda or news can spread instantly with a single hashtag. Although awareness raising efforts continue today, the fact that the situation is a big problem does not change.

Finally, depending on both items, we often refer to it as the ‘troll army’; created by bot accounts that are often not even linked to a real person. fake agendas and targeting hashtags, unfortunately, it is an unresolved problem despite many steps taken in this regard.

Despite everything, hashtags are still a great power for those who want to have their voices heard.

Just like what has been talked about on social media for days and will continue to be talked about. As in #IranProtests and #MahsaAmini hashtags. This is how the name and painful story of a young woman is heard. The persecution is visible.

The support from the rest of the world, to all women and men fighting for their ‘right to life’ in Iran, also gives us It shows how when the moment is right we can break all other boundaries and make a sound together.