What's in a #HashTag

A HashTag is basically made up of two words, conjugated together to form a new blendword. Hash in computer dialect is basically a transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value (key) that represents the original string. Tag is a keyword assigned to a piece of information that allows it to be searched on a browser. 

It is predominantly used in micro-blogging services and on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc to allow its users to apply user-generated and dynamic tagging, which makes it possible for others to easily find content related to the same HashTag, posted by a wide array of audience, in a single click. 

Usage / Style

The hash character, generally represented by the number sign # , is placed in front of a string of alpha-numeric characters without a space in between the # and the characters, that constitutes a HashTag. Hashtags are not case-sensitive, which means that searching for #tangentialfeed or #TangentialFeed would return the same search results. Camel-casing (Capitalising the first character of every new word) increases the readability of a string.
 

Hashtags are neither registered nor controlled by any one user or group of users. They cannot be "retired" from public usage, meaning that any given hashtag can theoretically be used in perpetuity. They do not contain any set definitions, meaning that a single hashtag can be used for any number of purposes, as chosen by the creators of those HashTags.

Uses

Any HashTag, if promoted by enough individuals, can "trend" and attract more individual users to discussion. Such trending HashTags are often used by popular social-media platforms to highlight posts or photos containing them, and display them at the top of the page feed. A new feature introduced by Instagram, allows users to follow particular HashTags, so that instead of searching for some tags, users can directly see them in their homepage feeds. Twitter shows these trending HashTags in the Trending Topics sections of a users homepage. This helps the users to remain abreast with the latest happenings around the world.

Nowadays, HashTags are used almost everywhere. The latest trend catching upon is where certain tags are associated with Events, Campaigns, Movements, Politics, Reality-Shows, Sports etc for their promotional activities.

But one must also note that, every good thing created, has some misuses related to it. Miscreants use HashTags to promote explicit content, for cyber-bullying, drug-usage, terrorism, fake-news etc. Efforts are being made by the developers of social-media platforms to weed-out such tags and keep their platforms as safe as possible.

                                                                       It must be noted that 

The beauty of hashtags is their public nature, connecting people around by their passions, interests or geographies. There's no restrictions on who can jump in, everyone's invited to create one of their choice.  HashTags have gained popularity over time and its fair usage can provide justice to this technological marvel.