Whether it’s shining a light on global events, connecting people everywhere to like-minded communities or just establishing a direct path to the content one is most passionate about, it all happens on Twitter thanks to the power of the global cultural phenomenon that has shaped the way we communicate: the hashtag. Born on Twitter in 2007, the hashtag celebrates its 14th anniversary on August 23rd, otherwise known as #HashtagDay.

On this day, Chris Messina (@chrismessina)Tweeted#barcamp, the first time a hashtag was ever used on Twitter. Over the years, it has evolved from a user-created way to categorise or ‘tag’ Tweets, to become part of our everyday speech, changing the nature of communication online and becoming one of the most influential symbols of the digital age.

To celebrate its impact in shaping important conversations and creating communities that unite millions of people across the globe, Twitter is launching a new #HashtagDay emoji that will be live for the day and available in multiple languages, including English and Hindi, allowing users across the globe to join the conversations by Tweeting with hashtags #HashtagDay and #हैशटैगदिवस.

In the first half of this year, a whopping 12.6B Tweets globally included at least one hashtag, proving that people on Twitter are continuing to use the hashtag in creative ways. Here are the hashtags that dominated the conversations in India from 1Jan to 30 June of 2021.

Top 10 hashtags from India [January – June 2021]:

*Ranked by the total number of Tweets that contain the given hashtag

Film fans from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka are some of the most passionate communities on Twitter. They shower appreciation for their superstars, celebrate new releases, and Tweet about their favourite movies. This passion reflects in our top-ten hashtag list so far this year, with six out of ten hashtags having to do with entertainment from South India: #valimai, #master, #sarkaruvaaripaata, #ajithkumar, #thalapathy65 and #vakeelsaab

Other fandoms were not far behind! The new and soaring popularity of #Kpop in India was reflected in the hashtags, with K-pop band #bts grabbing a spot on the list. Along with the BTS Army, other music fans were also celebrating their idol’s wins at the #iheartawards. #BiggBoss fans also made themselves heard, with contestant #RubinaDilaik being the seventh-most Tweeted hashtag.

In the midst of all of this, a theme that continues to be consistent was the pandemic, represented by the hashtag #covid19. In India, the second wave of the pandemic saw a new movement rising on Twitter – with the service becoming a real-time lifeline for those in need. During this time, we saw a 1336% increase in Tweets around seeking or providing medical help.

1. #valimai
2. #master
3. #sarkaruvaaripaata
4. #ajithkumar
5. #thalapathy65
6. #iheartawards
7. #rubinadilaik
8. #bts
9. #covid19
10. #vakeelsaab

Here’s how users can leverage the power of a hashtag to Tweet:

• Hashtags can actually help categorise Tweets – just use the symbol (#) before a relevant keyword or phrase in a Tweet
• To access all the conversations on a particular theme – just click on the hashtagged word in any message and all the Tweets with a similar hashtag will come up on your timeline
• Popular hashtags often emerge as Trending Topics
• A hashtag will not work if there are spaces or punctuations in it
• If a user Tweets with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find their Tweet

Happy#HashtagDay!