Twitter hashtags and @ may soon become a thing of the past

Hashtags are everywhere, and Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) created the trend. You can’t watch a TV show without viewing a hashtag prominently displayed on the lower or top left corner of your screen. They are so popular that even Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) adopted its usage.

However, Vivian Schiller, head of news at Twitter, recently suggested that hashtags may soon become a thing of the past. In fact, at the Newspaper Association of America’s mediaXchange conference, she called them “arcane,” stating they may be moving to the background. Furthermore, @ (at) replies might also be changed.

When responding to another user, you currently have to include their @ (at) symbol and Twitter handle. This has been the case since Twitter made its debut almost eight years ago. Yet, Twitter wants to make its conversations more seamless. To confirm, Schiller has shared, “We are working on moving the scaffolding of twitter into the background.”

So, instead of using the @ (at) Twitter handle, you can just use the person’s handle. Your responses will be connected by a blue line. Twitter is already testing the alteration in a beta-version of its Android app. It may make sense given that the @ (at) symbol creates an additional step that can be forgotten, easily.

However, hashtags have been deeply embedded into the micro-blogging site. It took a while for users to assimilate to the feature, but now it is widely used to track news stories and to create trending topics. If you want to read user comments on any news item, all you have to do is type in the corresponding hashtag. Furthermore, if you want to make a statement, you can create your own hashtag. So, what will replace the hashtag, if anything? #Wewillwaitfortheupdate.