Tests are made to try out situations and evaluate possible outcomes. So far so good, but occasionally there are rehearsals that leave us scratching our heads. One of them took place on Monday (10), in which Twitter would be testing to reduce the functionality of the hashtag, keeping only links that were connected to brands. That is, users could no longer place the famous symbol # on any word to generate a connection to other posts.
Apparently, Twitter would be experimenting with removing links from common hashtags to give greater visibility to companies and brands. As a result of this, the social network could create a new form of monetization.
Therefore, it would no longer be possible for a user to create something like #let’s play in order to connect with other tweets with the same content. However, if a company wanted to highlight a slogan, for example, it could simply open its wallet to make it happen on the bluebird platform.
The discovery was made by developer and leaker Jane Manchun Wong. She pointed to tests with models like #OneTeam and #Periscope, both with links. She then shared a simple tweet with a #hashtag, which was just like any other word.
And yes, it really does seem like an odd choice on Twitter’s part.
Change could be a shot in the wing
Of course, these are just experiments on the part of the social network, without any mention of an official deployment. Be that as it may, I don’t think this would be well accepted by the very active Twitter community.
One of the things that facilitate communication between users is exactly the hashtag, limiting its use and even directing it only to affiliated content of some brand does not seem to me an interesting path.
It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons the platform has so many communities is the connection between its members, created by combining words with the tic-tac-toe symbol. Forcing a change, even a gradual one, could drive many people away from their own timelines.
For the sake of curiosity, Chris Messina, the inventor of the hashtag, decided to leave his opinion on the tests of the social network:
With information: Digital Trends.
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/10/11/twitter-estaria-testando-mudancas-nas-hashtags-para-fazer-mais-dinheiro/