Dynamic of hashtag functions development in new media: Hashtag as an identificational mark of digital communication in social networks

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the hashtag functioning as an operational tool for new media. The relevance of the study is determined by the insufficient knowledge of the hashtag as a linguistic phenomenon, while it is the most important unit that determines the development of interactive media (in particular, social networks) at the present stage. The purpose of this article is to study the features of the localization of the hashtag on the Instagram social network, as well as the spectrum of its functionality. The main attention is paid to the specific formal characteristics of the hashtag (graphic appearance, position in relation to the text, grammatical features) and the functions performed - both in the network space and beyond. Considering the functionality of the hashtag on Instagram, the authors of the article note that it acts, firstly, as a navigation tool that allows you to instantly search for publications on topics of interest. Secondly, the hashtag is a powerful tool for marketing promotion in the social network of a product or service. Thirdly, the hashtag can act as an evaluation marker that can set the interpretation model of the message marked by the addressee, which indicates its manipulative potential. Fourth, the hashtag discovers the ability to form a network of certain associations fixed in the minds of people to a particular event, person, subject, situation, thus finding itself closely related to the features of the conceptualization of reality. And finally, the hashtag is recognized as a unique phenomenon that went beyond the scope of online space and determined the specifics of the new era of communication in the digital world, as well as in real life. At the same time, the hashtag functions may vary depending on the communicative intentions of the author who uses it in his publication. The results provide an incentive for further research on the hashtag as a phenomenon that reflects the interaction of the language and consciousness of the modern "media" person.