What does the word "hashtag" mean?

On Instagram and Twitter a hashtag is the symbol ”#”. You put a hashtag in front of a word or phrase and you can search for it. Sometimes it goes viral. For example the hashtag #metoo became viral. But when you’re saying the word “hashtag” in speech, it’s just silly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

Like caravan says its the symbol # and usually used by the DNC.

It’s not just twitter, its all social media now.
Examples:
#notmypresident
#webelieveher
#metoo
#MAGA

It’s basically like a subject heading in a library catalog; it is a searchable term for locating items as @Caravanfan says. It was started by Twitter and It has come into the vernacular as a way to say things or highlight ideas. It is not specifically political at all but can be used in all sorts of ways.

When people say it is in speech, it’s often used as a way to summarize or describe what was just previously said. #lame #tool

There’s a type of rapping called “hashtag rap” where after a line, the rapper says a single word that summarizes or finishes the point of what was just said. This type of rap was parodied in the Lonely Island song “Semicolon” (NSFW lyrics):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M94ii6MVilw

^lol..I didn’t know someone can write a song on semicolon..!!

Becoming slang in use, to emphasise a point #awkward

The symbol commonly known as the pound sign (#) has a long history and lots of names and uses, including “hash.” Did you know it’s also called an octothorpe? It used to be best known as the number sign, as in “Please leave your phone #” or “Contestant #6 is disqualified.” The Wikipedia page has a pretty comprehensive catalog. One of my most frequent uses for it is to indicate a space when editing or proofreading a document, as shown here.

I’m guessing it came into use in the social media context because it’s the symbol used to label a specified location on a page. Hover your cursor over the paragraph mark at the end of this quip and you will see that it marks the tag that points to this specific post.

So—hash mark used to denote a tag—“hashtag.”

@Caravanfan Thanks for the skit. It sounds to me like they are mimicking that.

“Enter your 3 digit code then press the hashtag key….”

”#” . As its symbol.
It mainly means a certain thing, followed by the symbol, is the focus

Wait…I just caught this…. @KNOWITALL said, ”….usually used by the DNC.”....

It’s just a way of linking common things together. I did some experimenting on my FB account. I typed #metoo. After it posted I clicked on it, and it took me to about a thousand other instances on FB where other people keyed in #metoo. Only about 3 were my friends. The others were strangers and organizations. It’s a way of connecting people with common concern.

As far as your grandsons saying it, it’s just a Thing. You know how kids are. They want to let other people know they’re hip and with it. Like the DNC.