Because little puppy, they aren't hashtags. They are number signs. They are often used in numeric keyboards like found at gated communities to input the entrance codes. The term "hashtag" didn't come about until 2007, before then it was number sign or even pound sign.
"The hashtag was first brought to Twitter on August 23, 2007 by Chris Messina. Before this, the hash (or pound) symbol had been used in various ways around the web, which helped Chris in developing his detailed suggestion for using hashtags on Twitter.Sep 24, 2013"
The hashtag, then called the POUND sign or more correctly the "octothorpe" , was not on original touch tone phones. They hadn’t been invented yet. They were added in 1968, but no one knew what to do with them. In fact, they were added mostly “because we can.” Since seven tones would make twelve sounds, AT&T figured they may as well put the extra buttons in, just in case someone figured out a use for them. Good thinking, AT&T.
By the 1980s, people figured out what to do with the extra buttons. AT&T introduces a series of “star codes” that let the caller do things like call back the person who had just called (*69) as well as other services. The # button became useful for a generation of voice-mail systems that proclaimed, “To finish, press pound.”
And by the way… why is it called the pound key?
In much of the world, the # symbol is called a “hash,” which will make sense to anyone who uses Twitter. Twitter, of course, makes extensive use of the # symbol for “hashtags.” In most of the world, ask for a pound symbol and you’ll see this: £ which is, of course, the symbol for the British pound.
While it’s not completely clear how # came to be known as “pound,” the most likely explanation comes in computer keyboards from the 1950s and 1960s upon which # and £ shared the same position above the number 3; international users flipped a switch to start using £ instead of #.
When people started referring to # on the touch-tone keypad, it didn’t make sense to call it the “number sign” as the keypad was made up of nothing but numbers! So, it’s pretty likely that programmers, used to seeing the “real” pound sign next to it, started calling that symbol “pound” as well.
Answers & Comments
that is not a hashtag but the pound key.
it is often used in automated systems ("enter your id, followed by the pound sign").
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign
The old # was the pound sign and was used in making some kinds of calls.
Now it is called a hashtag
Because little puppy, they aren't hashtags. They are number signs. They are often used in numeric keyboards like found at gated communities to input the entrance codes. The term "hashtag" didn't come about until 2007, before then it was number sign or even pound sign.
"The hashtag was first brought to Twitter on August 23, 2007 by Chris Messina. Before this, the hash (or pound) symbol had been used in various ways around the web, which helped Chris in developing his detailed suggestion for using hashtags on Twitter.Sep 24, 2013"
The hashtag, then called the POUND sign or more correctly the "octothorpe" , was not on original touch tone phones. They hadn’t been invented yet. They were added in 1968, but no one knew what to do with them. In fact, they were added mostly “because we can.” Since seven tones would make twelve sounds, AT&T figured they may as well put the extra buttons in, just in case someone figured out a use for them. Good thinking, AT&T.
By the 1980s, people figured out what to do with the extra buttons. AT&T introduces a series of “star codes” that let the caller do things like call back the person who had just called (*69) as well as other services. The # button became useful for a generation of voice-mail systems that proclaimed, “To finish, press pound.”
And by the way… why is it called the pound key?
In much of the world, the # symbol is called a “hash,” which will make sense to anyone who uses Twitter. Twitter, of course, makes extensive use of the # symbol for “hashtags.” In most of the world, ask for a pound symbol and you’ll see this: £ which is, of course, the symbol for the British pound.
While it’s not completely clear how # came to be known as “pound,” the most likely explanation comes in computer keyboards from the 1950s and 1960s upon which # and £ shared the same position above the number 3; international users flipped a switch to start using £ instead of #.
When people started referring to # on the touch-tone keypad, it didn’t make sense to call it the “number sign” as the keypad was made up of nothing but numbers! So, it’s pretty likely that programmers, used to seeing the “real” pound sign next to it, started calling that symbol “pound” as well.