I’ve never been the biggest fan of hashtags. Cognitively, I guess I understand their use, but to be honest I’ve always thought of them as the annoying little sibling of captions; they give you some information about what you’re looking at but they’re too small to do much more. They help you find other similar posts or tweets, but I’m too lazy to really use that feature.

But this year, hashtags pleasantly surprised me. Maybe I’m just paying more attention, or maybe they’re getting more sophisticated, but over the course of 2013 hashtags were used to start some legitimately interesting sociopolitical discussions.

A few weeks ago, the GOP tweeted:

Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism. pic.twitter.com/uxIj1QmtkU

— RNC (@GOP) December 1, 2013

The entire internet proceeded to make fun of this blithely ignorant tweet, myself included. But out of that internet backlash emerged something really interesting.

How I imagine people type when there’s new material to be mocked on the internet.

The hashtag #RacismEndedWhen was born. And everyone weighed in. Some responses were funny, some were angry, and some were just silly, but for the most part, they were thought-provoking.This wasn’t a hashtag dedicated to showing off a fun brunch entree, or explaining that the photo you just posted had #nofilter. It was genuine discourse, albeit through a relatively shallow medium.

#RacismEndedWhen doesn’t stand alone. In August of this year, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen started trending after a user named Mikki Kendall used it to explain how she believes minority women have a history of exclusion in the feminist movement. Again, it sparked valuable debate and discussion.

Earlier this week, Suey Park launched the hashtag #NotYourAsianSidekick to discuss Asian-American stereotypes and feminism. And as with the other discussion-based hashtags, people chimed in. Park explained her motivation for starting the discussion to Buzzfeed, “My dear friends and I have had growing critiques of how patriarchy in Asian American spaces hurts, while white feminism leaves much to be desired, so we created this space instead. We talked about queerness, disability, immigration, multiracial/biracial issues, compulsory coalitions, challenging anti-blackness, mental health, body image, and all things feminism. It was all of the things we were told to never talk about.”

Complacency is easy. It’s easy not to have the difficult discussion. Social media has often been lauded as a lighter part of the internet — I don’t go on Facebook when I’m looking to expand my horizons or read a serious news article. I go on Facebook when I want to see funny pictures or observations about my friends’ lives.

That being said, I’m happy about this new use of hashtags. I’m happy that we’re having those difficult discussions. As a generation, we spend a lot of time online. It’s estimated that we each spend five hours a day looking at a laptop, TV, or smartphone.

The kinds of discussions that we’re now having within the confines of these hashtags are the kind of discussions that used to take place with a big group of friends at bar, or around a dinner table, or maybe in a classroom. But one of the benefits of our constant connectivity is that these conversations can happen a much larger level. We are no longer limited to our friends, families, and people who are like us, and I can’t help but think that’s a pretty great thing.

Moreover, as Park hoped, these hashtags and resulting discussions can help connect people. They can create safe spaces that allow people who thought they were alone in a problem, feeling, or grievance to connect with others who are experiencing something similar.

So, thought-provoking hashtags, I hope you continue into 2014. People who utilized those hashtags in 2013, keep going. Keep pushing the envelope. Keep using social media to engage in difficult conversations. Keep creating new forums to discuss the tough stuff. As technology changes the way politics, society, law, and people interact, this is a pretty cool new way to talk about it.

Here’s to you.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Michael Coghlan via Wikipedia]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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