Despite its primarily functional origins, the hash tag has broken out of its social media context and is a kind of colloquialism, usually intended as a joke, but utilized in just about any form of communication – even spoken, e.g. "hash tag yolo!" (shudder).
What is the meaning of this usage of a hash tag, outside of social media and incapable of performing its original function?
edit: I'm not really asking about the origin or the actual meaning of a hash tag, only this ironic new usage after being popularized by social media. Another way to phrase this question is: how can you describe to someone who has never used social media what another person means when they verbally say "hash tag yolo"?
Best Answer
(Since this is about colloquial usage, I hope informal examples from my own experiences are acceptable as reference)
I mostly hear/see hashtags used in real life and on online forums without hashtags as something one would hypothetically add to a social media posting about whatever is currently the topic.
e.g. someone doing something crazy in real life saying "#yolo" implies that if/when they were to post about it on social media that is how they would tag it. someone else discussing a crazy (sport/video game) play on a forum could similarly add #yolo to the end of their post for similar reasons.
I suppose it also evokes other imagery if the person reading is familiar with the hashtag, but it seems more likely to be ironic in this case. (e.g. someone who's very dressed up jokingly saying "#iwokeuplikethis"... something like that.)