Facebook hashtags, Vine spammers, Instagram Video and Nigella - the week in social media

The internet did a collective gasp of excitement last week, when it was announced that Facebook would be launching clickable hashtags. Everyone then took a minute to think about this and realised just how annoying it will be when people hashtag every single one of their #HolidayPhotos.

Apart from the fact that this new move is potentially good for Facebook from an advertising point of view (if they allow hashtags and trends to be sponsored a la Twitter) I’m struggling to see how hashtags on Facebook are going to be of any use at all.

You can now use hashtags on Facebook, as you would do on Twitter, to join in a conversation, so now you can see which other top members of society use #YOLO. But don’t we use Facebook to escape from annoying hashtags?

In my opinion, Facebook is just trying to keep up. Social media is becoming more and more about conversation, but with the exception of fan pages and groups, this seems to have been slowing down on Facebook of late, so is this just a desperate attempt from Facebook to say ‘LOOK, WE CAN DO HASHTAGS TOO!’? #JustSayin.

Vine Spammers – 'Hello nice video you want followers?'

You can’t possibly have missed the total lovefest that Vine has created online over the past few months. However, just after the service bragged about its 13 million new Android users, the popularity of the site has attracted the inevitable team of spammers and #viagra sales people. Annoying.

Surely the days of spamming must be over? We’re all perfectly aware that emails from the late Colonel Gaddafi’s cousin offering to send you $15million from his inheritance are (spoiler alert) bogus, so why are spammers continuing to do it?

Just stop it. No one needs your hot tip for getting hundreds of Vine followers; we’re all quite happy as we are.

Instagram – Filters on video?

After much hype and guesswork, Facebook announced yesterday that Instagram would be launching a video element to the site. YAY! Now we can waste time choosing filters for videos as well as pictures.

After witnessing the popularity of Vine, is this yet another attempt by Facebook to try and catch up with Twitter? If so, it’s only a matter of time before they morph into the same site. As Instagram posts aren’t actually visible in tweets (you have to click on the link to see them), but Vine posts are, it will be interesting to see how popular the Instgram video service will be.

I've already seen several avid Instagram users ditch the usual sepia-style photos for videos showing of their glowing personalities. I'm not sure motion pictures are for everyone #yawn.

Nigella Lawson – BNP wade in

Nigella has been the talk of the internet over the past couple of days after pictures of her being held by the throat by husband Charles Saatchi emerged in the press. The story sparked a bit of an uproar, with people taking to social media to air their views.

A number of people have used the opportunity to speak out about domestic abuse, whilst others, such as BNP specimen Nick Griffin, used the story to make hilarious jokes. Griffin tweeted: "If I had the opportunity to squeeze Nigella Lawson, her throat wouldn’t be my first choice." Defending his ‘hilarious’ tweet, a spokesperson for the BNP said: "I think he likes her cooking. It’s a joke."

#Sure