hashtag

Two 'hashtag' stories January 2012 - September 2013

Google Search adds related Google+ content for hashtag queries

Google is rolling out a new hashtag experience in Google Search today that will see search results for queries with hashtags display related Google+ posts and content from other social networks:

– When you search on Google for a hashtag, say [#AmericasCup] or [#WaterfallWednesday], a set of relevant Google+ posts may appear to the right of regular results.

– You’ll only be able to see posts that have been shared publicly or shared with you.

– If you click on any of these posts you’ll go to Google+, where you’ll see the full set of relevant posts.

– You’ll also see links to search for these hashtags on other social sites.

The new feature will only be available to English users in the US and Canada initially and will go live on Google.com and Google.ca sometime today.

Photo captioning and hashtag autocomplete coming to Google+

Soon, you will no longer have to resort to image editing apps such as Adobe Photoshop or Skitch for Android just to adorn your Google+ images with some funny captions. According to Google engineer Colin McMilen, adding text on top of your photographs is easy:

To try it out, drop a photo into the sharebox on Google+, then click the “Add text” button underneath the photo. Type in something funny, then share and enjoy.

Some funny examples are available here. The other improvement involves hashtags that let you tag posts with words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #, like on Twitter. Conveniently enough, Google designer Chris Messina who invented hashtags during his Twitter tenure announced the new feature in a Google+ post:

We want to make it even easier to use and discover hashtags, so today we’re rolling out a new auto-complete feature. Now when you start typing a hashtag in a post or comment, Google+ will present a list of hashtags you might be looking for.

Here is a cool example of dozens of hashtags created for photographers and artists to tag photographs. Just click any hashtag to easily browse through collections of great snaps.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVd9Ogcu_Ps]

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