Twitter popularised the use of the hashtag, which has subsequently been picked up by other social media sites such as Facebook-owned Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest.
In a blog post, Facebook said it wanted to make it easier for its users to participate in a common conversation.
“Every day, hundreds of millions of people use Facebook to share their thoughts on big moments happening all around them,” Greg Lindley, a Facebook product manager, wrote.
“Whether it’s talking about a favorite television show, cheering on a hometown sports team or engaging with friends during a breaking news event — people on Facebook connect with their friends about what’s taking place all over the world.”
From yesterday (Wednesday), “hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion. When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you'll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic”.
Twitter’s hashtag use has been very popular for connecting real-time Tweets which are limited to 140 characters.
Facebook said users would also be able to click on hashtags that originated on other apps, such as photo-sharing service Instagram, that already uses the tool.
