#learning #a #new #language

Over half a year ago I wrote a long piece on #hashtags, shitting all over people that used them so frequently. I never released the piece because I realized I was being old. “Those kids nowadays, with their #hashtags, what is the world coming to?”

Shortly thereafter the internet was ablaze with celebrities mocking the usage. I wasn’t the only one that thought #hashtags were silly, but after more thought, my own perception changed.

When I was in my early teens, LOL and other initialisms started taking root in our vocabulary due to the internet boom. With looms of users connecting to usenet, IRC, and of course, AOL. We used the CD that came through regular mail to get a 30 day free trial, so that we could receive e-mail. This was when e-mail and instant messaging were in their infancy. Going into chatrooms and asking ASL was becoming a thing. Internet dating was getting it’s legs. Talk show hosts would poke fun at us for meeting people we connected with on the dark creepy online internet thingamajig. Now, there are hundreds of sites dedicated to companionship. Match, OkCupid, JDate, BlackPeopleMeet, and even the paradoxical AmishOnlineDating.

The older generation didn’t get why we stared at our screens for hours at a time. Our PCs emitting loud screeching sounds every time it used the 56K dial-up modem to slowly connect to the interwebs for some late night browsing. When we were finally signed on, we would hear “you’ve got mail” through the speakers.

Soon AOL speak was part of our vernacular. Real life conversations contained heavy use of initialisms. We would laugh and say LOL, confusing anyone who wasn’t hip to our new form of speech. A new language and culture was gaining popularity, and if you weren’t with it, well, you probably had a more expansive vocabulary.

It eventually became irritating as people tried to communicate with long convoluted letters strung together. LOL wasn’t enough anymore. We needed ROFL, LMAO, AFK, BFN, IMHO, SMH, TLTR, and others. Emoticons started making an appearance too, and ascii art. Ohhhh ascii art.

Much of those terms still exist due to the explosion of text messages and not wanting to write out entire words. IDK, sometimes it’s useful to shorten up three words by using three letters, but I know people who say thnks instead of thanks, just to save on one letter, defeating the whole purpose.

With Twitter, #hashtags started becoming a norm. Used for placing importance on words within your tweet in order for others to see relevant information. The #egypt protests proved it’s use as people were able to search live information from protestors or others commenting on the situation in #tahrir, by searching the appropriate terms. It made sense and it allowed users to place importance on a certain word as the subject of the tweet.

Using #hashtags in that fashion is very useful. I was at a rooftop bar in Miami a few months ago. A couple of days after, I went on Instagram and searched the #hashtag #bongos, which was the name of the bar. The search came back with a list of pictures associated with the tag. I ended up finding a picture of some of the people I met there and instantly connected with them. Now I have friends in Miami for when I visit again.

Even though #hashtags can be useful, I see many people #hashtagging every word in their tweet and pushing it to the maximum allowable characters. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, not required to be 140 characters. People posting pictures of themselves on Instagram with the title: Having fun #coffee #cafeorlin #sunday #brunch #sunny #eggs #toast #h2o #friends #didimentionsunny? #fun #yay #yolo #great #awesome. Then commenting on their own photo with a thousand more tags, creating this abstract moire pattern, which will probably cause seizures if you stare too long.

Many do it so that their posts gets more views, but it can cause the opposite effect because people will psychologically hate you for littering all over the internet.

I started using #hashtags in some of my posts. I try to limit it to 5 max, but usually I only have 1 or 2 to identify the subjects. I’ve come to realize that even this will eventually change, and in a few years something new will pop up and we’ll be #learning #a #new #language again.