Next week one of @Clareville’s consumer clients @BABYBJORNUK will be hosting a #PR event where BabyBjorn will launch its new Bouncer Balance Soft #babybjorn12. Journalists are invited to tweet at the event and describe to followers the experience of this elegant event and welcome the latest addition to the company’s portfolio of products.

They will be using #babybjorn12 to link themselves to the event and to those who are interested in it.  It set me thinking about the changing role of #hashtags.

As a #b2b and #consumer #PR agency we work with several clients on events and functions where bloggers and journalists tweet. There they use the appropriate #hashtags to advise followers not only where they are but what they are doing and share their experiences and views of the event.

When #hashtags first appeared in the sphere they played a functional role – categorising tweets by topic and allowing members to follow and participate in conversations of interest to them covering news and events. That was almost five years ago and how times have changed.

Since then #twitter and #hashtags have become an integral part of day to day life on social media often being used as the first port of call to attract or share an ‘on the ground’ personal account from people about current, live and trending topics of interest, even though some tweets have to be considered with care.

The rise of the #hashtag has been phenomenal and we are constantly bombarded with the # sign advising us that we too, whether at a business event, at the cinema watching the latest release, a live football match, or even whilst at home sitting on the sofa, can participate in a current online conversation that is happening at that very moment in time and can be part of something bigger.

#Hashtags play a far more pivotal role in today’s social media savvy generation. In fact the # sign seems almost essential to give a subject gravitas and endorsement as important.

With 1 in 8 tweets bearing the #hashtag sign, it really is going from strength to strength. As everyone relies more heavily on Twitter and the more frequent and regular use of #hashtags, it’s only a matter of time before every tweet has a subsequent and related #hashtag linked to it.