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Political hashtags like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter make some people doubt the stories they’re attached to | Nieman Journalism Lab

Whether you’re a conservative or a liberal, you’ve most likely come across a political hashtag in an article, a tweet, or a personal story shared on Facebook. Hashtags are functional tags widely used in search engines and social networking services that allow people to search for content grouped under a word or phrase, denoted by the # sign.

First popularized by Twitter in 2009, the use of hashtags has become widespread across platforms. Nearly anything political intended to attract a wide audience is now branded with a catchy hashtag: election campaigns (#MAGA), social movements (#FreeHongKong), or calls to support or oppose laws (#LoveWins).

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Source: Political hashtags like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter make some people doubt the stories they’re attached to | Nieman Journalism Lab