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Hashtags have come a long way since they were first introduced to social media to group conversations on Twitter in 2007 and are now a staple of marketing and online dialogue in general. However, they’re typically restricted to the platform they were initially posted on. Hshtags is a search engine that brings together relevant conversations from across the entire web.

The site recognizes that hashtags are no longer the preserve of single platforms and are being used across all channels. Users simply search for the hashtag they’re interested in and Hshtags delivers results from across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, and Tumblr, with Google+ and Vine support on its way. The site lists results by date posted and users can filter them by post type (text, image or video) and platform. Additionally, users can search for usernames using the @ prefix, and save their favorite hashtags to quickly retrieve the latest posts. As well as serving as a useful resource for internet users looking to keep on top of trending topics, businesses could also use it to get a quick glance of how their campaigns are faring across the web.

In the past, we’ve already seen the #SkyRec campaign enable digital TV viewers to automatically record their favorite shows simply by using the hashtag on Twitter. Are there other ways to make hashtags more useful?