In 2007, the hashtag was a simple, yet revolutionary, idea that changed the way we organize and amplify content. Today, it is either endangered or more useful than ever, depending on whom you talk to. On the open social web, hashtags are an important unifying mechanism — not just for content but for people too.

Why is that? How did we get here? What’s next for this small but mighty feature and for the web at large? Here to tell us is Chris Messina, the inventor of the hashtag, the creator of the DiSo Project, and the No. 1 hunter on Product Hunt. In this episode, Messina goes wide to explain where this next 20-year cycle of the internet is taking us. From the community-pulling power of the hashtag to decentralization and the massive shifts ignited by AI, he threads the needle on it all.

Highlights of this conversation:

00:57 “The death of the hashtag” and Elon Musk’s disparaging comments
04:24 Hashtag as an organizing principle, #BelieveinFilm
06:15 Photo sharing and 15th anniversary of hashtag on Instagram
07:02 “Adversarial opportunity” and cross-platform communities
10:25 Early reception of hashtag within Twitter
11:14 Why the hashtag is a big idea
12:22 Hashtag abuse (and dealing with it)
13:36 Under-appreciated aspects of the hashtag
13:58 The first hashtag on Twitter
15:30 Hashtag adoption
18:05 Adding support for the hashtag
19:45 What’s next for the hashtag
22:01 Identity on the (social) web
28:00 Why decentralization is necessary and complex
29:32 Urgency of this moment in time
30:00 What moderation is and does — and how LLMs could assist
33:33 Establishing reputation
37:27 Starter Packs
44:40 Where Chris spends his social media time
46:20 Mastodon, Bluesky pros and cons
54:33 Advice giving to people building in this space

Mentioned in this episode and/or acronyms for clarity:

• bitly.com/tagchannels - original hashtag spec
• DID stands for “decentralized identifier” and is a self-owned, verifiable digital identity that operates without a central authority
• PGP is an encryption standard used for securing communication, data integrity, and authentication

🔎 Learn more about Chris at his website, ChrisMessina.me, or find him on Bluesky @chrismessina.me, Mastodon @chrismessina@mastodon.xyz, and Threads @chris.

✚ You can connect with Mike McCue all across the social web, including on Bluesky @mmccue.bsky.social, Mastodon @mike@flipboard.social and Threads @mmccue.

🌊 Catch the wave! Surf the social web and create your own custom feeds at surf.social, a new beta from the people at Flipboard. https://about.surf.social/