Chris Messina: Hashtag inventor Chris Messina quits Twitter, here’s why – Times of India

Hashtags inventor Chris Messina has said “goodbye” to Twitter reportedly after his Blue tick was removed. Messina, however, indicated that he is not quitting the platform due to the badge but how the verification situation was handled.
“My choice isn’t about the badge; it’s about everything that leads up to the badge and how it has been handled. Whatever Twitter was before deserved more dignity and consideration than it’s received in the last six months,” Messina said (via The Verge). His account has now been set to private.
What are hashtags and why are they important
A hashtag is a word or keyword phrase that is put after a hash symbol (#). It can be used within a post on social media platforms to help those who may be interested in a certain topic. People can search for a hashtag to find posts related to it.

Hashtags on social media platforms have been an important tool to push interactions. Messina suggested in 2007 that people can to use the # symbol to organise groups. Since then, hashtags have gained popularity on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
On Twitter, there is a dedicated space where people can see what hashtag is trending. They can further be used to check how many tweets have been posted using a particular hashtag that essentially tells us what is the topic of discussion on the social media platform.
Furthermore, hashtags can be used to find top tweets, latest tweets, photos and videos regarding a particular hashtag.

Elon Musk isn’t a fan of hashtags
However, Twitter CEO Elon Musk hates hashtags and he let his feelings known in a tweet last month. He was replying to an image that had a tweet created by ChatGPT on SpaceX, the rocket manufacturer owned by Musk.
The tweet had hashtags and Musk replied with a tweet suggesting he doesn’t use hashtags.

After his tweet, the Twitterati started to wonder whether Musk will remove hashtags from Twitter.