Are we really tagging people?

 Who are you talking to when you hashtag?


Most humans think they are helping other humans discover their content. But what if we are talking to machines more than we are talking to humans? I’ve personally seen people alter how they write/type, when they post and even what they share based off of what they think the algorithm wants.


Do you think social media is still primarily about connecting people, or has it become more about learning how to communicate?

Comments

  1. JenSum26June 7, 2026 at 3:30 PM

    Really interesting point. The skeptic in me thinks they help the machines far more than they do us and we've been sucked in by useful marketing about an incidental benefit. I do know that in certain crisis situations, hashtags can be useful to crowdsource info from people who are in your neighborhood, for instance. And to your question, I suppose if you're an influencer, you DO write to
    get attention from the algo. It's basically marketing by another name. So, you do have to learn how to communicate to get noticed by the system. And you may or may not help connect people, but again, that likely a side benefit. It would be lovely to think that all of these features were innocent and helpful, but we all know they aren't. And we all have to figure out ways to "game the system"--either for attention, or to fly under the radar.

    ReplyDelete

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