With the seemingly never ending growth of social media, this little symbol has changed forever. #.

As strange as it may seem, since hashtags were introduced by Twitter in 2010, they are rapidly becoming a part of our daily online vocabulary and we must all know at least one person who will actually say things like ‘#Awkward’. I am not ashamed to admit that I am one of them.

Following Twitter’s lead, it was only a matter of time before Facebook joined the hashtag train. When they finally did in 2013, some of us were dubious for a variety of reasons.

Personal vs conversations

For one thing, there are huge differences in how people use different social media platforms, introducing hashtags doesn’t even blur the lines.

Since it’s creation, Facebook has always been about creating your own intimate circles of friends and connecting on a personal level. Twitter, on the other hand, is considered as more of a ‘thought stream’, a place where you can connect with like-minded people over the same topic thanks to hashtags.

Want to discuss your favourite TV show? That’s fine, there’s bound to be a hashtag for it. This way you can get nattering away without the backlash of your Facebook friends typing ‘SPOILERS’ in huge capital letters to demonstrate the level of their keyboard fury.

It still doesn’t feel natural

Users on Twitter have had three years to get used to the concept of hashtags and how they should be used effectively. Hashtags just don’t come as naturally to Facebook users and even now, two years since their introduction, there are still some users who are baffled. #PeopleOnFacebookTendToDoThingsLikeThis which not only makes no sense, it has no impact whatsoever on their posts.

How often do you search?

Twitter users are more likely to search for a specific hashtag than those on Facebook and are also more likely to click on one to view a wider conversation.

Think about the last time you searched for a specific hashtag, or even clicked on one, on Facebook. Why did you do it and what did you learn? On a professional level we use them for research and analysis for campaigns, but on a personal level, only 18% of our office have never searched for a hashtag on Facebook.

This gives an impression that your Average Joe will rarely engage with a hashtag on this platform and there will be no additional impact on your post. On Twitter, hashtags not only encourage further conversation through that key audience but it can also extend your reach when (done properly) increase your chances of ‘virality’, sadly this is not currently the case with Facebook.

Hashtags are such trend at the moment and there’s no real harm in using them, however Twitter is where the hashtag party’s at if you want to grow your conversation and campaign.