Facebook to use Twitter hashtag style: report

Facebook is preparing to take on Twitter by adopting the messaging service's iconic hashtag symbol, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Users of globally popular one-to-many messaging service Twitter use # or pound symbols as a hashtag to indicate subjects in tweets.

The style is such an entrenched part of the Twitter language that the San Francisco-based company added a hashtag search feature to make it easy for users to find messages focused on themes or happenings of interest.

For example, people firing off messages at Twitter about a hurricane might use the hashtag #storm.

The Journal cited unnamed sources as saying Facebook is incorporating hashtags into the social network in a move that would let members organize comments and posts by topic.

The report said Facebook is testing use of the symbol but that the feature was not likely to be introduced imminently.