The hashtag has evolved enormously over the last few years. Back in the dark ages of Twitter’s go-live, only the most savvy of Twitter’s users recognized the importance and opportunities the hashtag posed.

Last night while eating I was asked by my youngest for a glass of “hashtag” milk – “hashtag” please :-).

The hashtag has become a part of our everyday life. Right now the marketing folks are making a mess out of it… but providers, patients, and the academic world will catch up. The opportunities, especially in healthcare are clear and evident. Information is coming at us at a tremendous pace. A pace that clearly exceeds the cognitive capacity of every solitary individual. The hashtag has the potential to to vastly improve upon our ability to filter and query these social information data streams to pick out the relevant content we are searching for.

For years now Symplur*  has been the go to resource in healthcare social media. Their vast database catalogues and stores most all healthcare related hashtags. The Healthcare Hashtag Twitter Project has proven to be a tremendous resource for academics, healthcare practitioners, patients, conference organizers and virtual attendees alike as we follow, interact and learn from afar.

Symplur’s latest project – Symplur Signals – will go live today. This is the next step in recognizing the power of the hashtag in the healthcare space. Signals will empower decision-making with real-time access to insights from over a billion healthcare social media data points.

Stay tuned … as the evolution of the hashtag in healthcare continues.

Read more: http://www.howardluksmd.com/orthopedic-social-media/evolution-hashtag-healthcare/

Source: www.howardluksmd.com