Over the next few weeks, Facebook will begin to take on the same look of social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram in that it will finally be rolling out clickable hashtags to all users.
This means if someone included in a status update the hashtag #apple, anyone who clicks on it will be able to see a pop out feed that shows other posts that have included the same hashtagged phrase.
The new feature will allow users the ability to get a glimpse of the broader conversations that are happening on the popular social networking site.
"To date, there has not been a simple way to see the larger view of what's happening or what people are talking about," Facebook's Greg Lindley wrote on the company's blog Wednesday. "To bring these conversations more to the forefront, we will be rolling out a series of features that surface some of the interesting discussions people are having about public events, people, and topics. As a first step, we are beginning to roll out hashtags on Facebook."
Hashtags on Facebook are nothing new to the website. Thanks to apps that utilize both the "#" symbol and Facebook connectivity, hashtags are already all over the place on Facebook. Also, since the hashtag has made its way into people's every day lives through social media, any attempt to rebrand the symbol to something Facebook specific just wouldn't catch on as well according to ABC News.
The company will roll out the hashtag feature on desktops Wednesday. The company expects all users to be able to use hastags within the coming weeks. Mobile sites will not have the hashtag feature just yet. Users can put a hashtag in status updates and posts but mobile users will not have access to the feed that allows users to see what people are talking about. The company has not rejected the idea of rolling it out to mobile users, it's simply not a part of its immediate plans.
