the secrets of the symbol made famous by Twitter - Pixartprinting

Although many people call the ubiquitous # symbol a 'hashtag', the hash symbol or key is actually just part of a hashtag, ... CloseForyourbusinessPrintstoriesHow-toGuidesGetinspiredNewsEditorialteamSearchBackgroundsandletteringcanmakeyourInstagramstoriesmoreinterestingandengaging.WeshowyouhowInthisarticle,welookatwhatSEMisandhowitcanhelpyouincreaseyourbusiness'visibilityonlineandimproveyoursalesopportunities.Oldhandsatsellingonlinewillknowthisalready:loweringthecostofshippingisarealchallenge.Whichiswhywe’veputtogetherthisshortguidetohelpyouAcompleteguidetosellingonAmazonforbothprivateindividualsandbusinesses,includinghowmuchitcostsandVATrulesAguidetogettingmorefollowersforyourInstagramprofileandincreasingyourvisibilityonthisplatformThehashsymbol:thesecretsofthesymbolmadefamousbyTwitterBacktotopAlthoughmanypeoplecalltheubiquitous#symbola‘hashtag’,thehashsymbolorkeyisactuallyjustpartofahashtag,whichalsoincludesthewordsthatfollowit. Thisgrid-shapedsymbolhasmanydifferentnames,andithashadanequallylargenumberoffunctionsoverthecenturiesintheEnglish-speakingworld,andlaterintherestoftheworldtoo.IntheUKwecallitthehashsymbol(derivedfrom‘cross-hatching’–shadingusingangledparallellines),whiletheAmericanscallitthenumbersignorpoundsign,butthetechnicaltermforitisactuallyanoctothorpe.Andthenthereareawholehostofunofficialnamesreferringtoitsshape,suchas‘square’,‘grid’,‘fence’,‘crunch’,andsoon. FromLtoR:AkzidenzGrotesk,BigCaslonandFago.Thereislittlevarietyinthedesignofthehashsymbolinvarioustypefaces.Italmostneverhasserifs,andtheonlythingsthatchangearetheangleofthestems,whichareveryoftenofequalweight,andthedistancebetweenthem. Thehistoryofthehashsymbol’snamesisintertwinedwiththevariousthingsithasbeenusedtorepresent.Andtheonethatcamefirstwasdefinitely‘poundsign’. Aunitofmeasurement Itwasneithersocialmedianorthetelephonethatcreatedthehashsymbol.Aswithsomanyotherthings,itsoriginslieinLatin. Itisimpossibletoworkoutwhenthesymbolweknowtodayfirstappeared,butweknowthatitderivesfromtheLatintermlibrapondo,i.e.‘weightinpounds’.Theword‘pound’stemsfrompondo,meaning‘weight’,andhasbeenabbreviatedaslbsincethe1300s.Asearlyastheseventeenthcentury,printerswereproducingspecificmovabletypeforthisglyph. Anexcerptfrom‘Pyrosophia’(1698)byJohannConradBarchusenshowingthelbsymbolwithaperpendiculardash,indicatinganabbreviation.CourtesyoftheRoyG.NevilleHistoricalChemicalLibrary,CHF. Theevolutionofthelbsymbolintothehashsymbolasweknowittodaycomesfromhandwriting.Althoughitisunclearwhenthecurrentversionbecameofficial,itseemsthatovertime,asitwasjotteddownmoreandmorequickly,lbslowlytransformedinto#. AbarredlbsymboldrawnbyIsaacNewton.CourtesyoftheChemicalHeritageFoundationCollections. Thisiswherethenamepoundsigncamefrom,aswellasitsuseasaunitofmeasurement.AndthisfunctionledtoanotherAmericancustom:usingthe#tomean‘number’,i.e.thenumbersign,stilltodaycommonasanalternativetotheabbreviation“No.” Anobscurebutton(andname) Althoughmostpeoplehaveneverheardofit,letaloneusedit,thetechnicaltermforthe#symbolisoctothorpe.Butwheredoesthisabsurd,difficult-to-pronouncewordcomefrom? Tofindout,weneedtogobacktothe1960s,andtotheofficesofBellLaboratories,therenownedtelecommunicationscompany,stillgoingstrong,whichproducedthefirsttelephones.Researchersatthecompanyweremodifyingthetelephonekeyboardtoallowforsomenewfunctions,andtheyaddedtwonewbuttonsnexttothezero,whichneededtobegivenappropriatesymbols.Aftersomeresearchandvariousdifferentattempts,theydecidedtousetheasteriskandthehashsymbol,whichwerealreadyfoundintheASCIIcodeandsowerealreadyfamiliartomanyusers.Thenextjobwastogiveanametothesymbols,andparticularlyto#–thename‘poundsign’wasnogood,asitcouldbeconfusedwiththesymbolfortheBritishcurrency.Andso,overacupofcoffee,theycameupwiththename‘octothorpe’,derivedfromtheprefixocto-,indicatingthesymbol’seightpoints,andasecondtermwithalessclearorigin,whichhasgivenrisetoaseriesofanecdotes.ThemostlikelytheoryisthatitderivesfromtheOlympicathleteJimThorpe,whosemedalsweretakenoffhimbecausehehadplayedbasketballataprofessionallevel.ItseemsthattheBellemployeewhochosethenamewasafanofhis. 1966,model1500telephone,BellLabs.Oneofthefirstmodelstoincludethesymbols*and#. Thehashsymbolonthetelephonekeypadwasusedforafewspecificcommands,but,abitlikethenameoctothorpe,itremainedmostlyunusedbytheaverageuser.Nevertheless,despitelackingatruemeaning,thehashsymbolbecamefamiliartothegeneralpublic. Fame Thepersonwhogave#arealrolewasChrisMessina,themanwhoisconsideredtheinventorofthehashtag Messina,anexpertonsocialmediaandformsofdigitalinteraction,suggestedthatTwittershouldstartusinghashtags–awordprecededbya#–togroup,categoriseandindexdiscussions.Hashtagsactuallyalreadyexisted:theyappearedforthefirsttimeontheinternetintheInternetRelayChat(IRC),anetworkwhereuserscouldcommunicatewithinvariouschannels,withthesubjectidentifiedbyahashtag.Itwaswithinthiscommunitythatthename‘hashtag’wasfirstcoined. Messina’ssuggestionwasinitiallymetwithscepticismbyTwitter’sfounders,whothoughtitwouldmakeinteractingtoo‘nerdy’.Nevertheless,hashtagsbegantocirculateonTwitterandgrewinpopularity.In2008,duringhiselectioncampaign,Obamalaunchedthehashtag#askobama.ThefollowingyearTwitterresponded,introducingthehyperlinkfunctiontohashtags,whichalloweduserstosearchfortweetsusingaspecifichashtag.Atthispointtheuseofhashtagsbyusersincreaseddramatically,andoverthenextthreeyearsthesymbolalsoappearedonYouTube,Tumblr,LinkedIn,InstagramandFacebook. Needlesstosay,hashtagscreatedacompletelynewformofcommunication,particularlyinthefieldofmarketing. Similarlytowhathappenedwithothersymbols[linkarticolosull’@],thecreationofhashtagsgave#anewleaseoflife,andturneditintoanultra-recognisablesymbolfullofmeaningforthegeneralpublic.Justlike@,Messinachose#becausehewantedtouseasymbolthatwasalreadyincirculationratherthaninventingsomethingnew,whichwouldhavemadeitmoredifficulttounderstandandlesslikelytobeadopted. Astechnologyisdevelopingevermorequicklyandiscontinuallyalteringourbehaviourandthewaysweinteract,whatothersymbolscurrentlygatheringdustinfrontofoureyesonourkeyboardswillcomebacktolifeandbecomepartofoureverydayexistence? Sources: KeithHouston.“ShadyCharacters:TheSecretLifeofPunctuation,Symbols,andOtherTypographicalMarks”(2013). AbouttheauthorEugeniaLuchetta