#hashtag
When I say "that's impressive" am I saying something different than when I say #impressed?
I think so.
We now have the means to rapidly label something, and with it comes the capability to talk not about the subject but the thematic categorization of the subject. #meta
It's the difference between saying something can be described, and saying something belongs in a group. Warning: my posts are long-winded. #boringstuff
It's also the ability to create new categories that aren't useful outside of the immediate context. #thingsinthispost Such one-off categories may or may not get recycled later, but their immediate use is to highlight that what we talk about is so often different than what we really care about. #gettothepoint
And while we can digress into the absurdist#pleasestopreadingthishashtagitistoolongandIcantstopwritingituntilyoudecidetostopreadingit or the esoteric #only1percentofmillenialswillunderstandthishashtag, most often the 'voice' of the hashtag is the voice of the hidden self #innermonologue.
What does this voice say? #everything
It can be confrontational #thingsstupidpeoplesay
It can be revealing #want
It can be moderating #justmyopinion
How do we hear this voice? #getwoke
As the true intent of the writer #jk
As a deeper affirmation of the writer #kiddingnotkidding
As an insight that cannot be otherwise expressed #tehfeelz
Because the #hashvoice isn't simply a description of the writer's personal world.
*pauses while typing to sip some coffee*
The #hashvoice isn't meant to convey an amorphous emotional state.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
#Hashvoice isn't even a direct conversation to a specific person. @JohnDoe
Hashing strives to connect the written thought with the larger world beyond the writer's control. #globalization We can try to influence that world #trending, or we can try to fit into it #trending, but we presume that we share that world together #onelove.
Through that connection we find ourselves shaping and being shaped. Does that photo you want to share need to wait until #TBT? Would people find this post more appealing if it were a #TIL? Will my friends be more impressed when they learned this whole post was #DIY? As we leverage these hashes to our benefit, we increase their strength in turn #leviathan
Before we landed on the moon we wrote stories about landing on the moon. #JulesVernesismymainsqueeze #HGWellsismysidepiece Before the creation of the modern technology came the creation of the modern language for it. #robot #RUR #KarelCapek
What are we preparing ourselves for when we create and speak in the #hashvoice? What is humanity calmly discussing in her laptop lit social salons while her belly swells with the promise of tomorrow? #proudpapa
The children of tomorrow are being made today and we race into that nearing embrace without a second thought for where we stray. #YOLO
#hashtag