What it means
هشتگ (hashtag) is borrowed directly from English, where “hashtag” combines “hash” (the # symbol) and “tag” (a label). On social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter/X, and Telegram, a هشتگ is a word or phrase preceded by # that categorizes content and makes it searchable. In Persian, a native alternative برچسب (barchasb, “label” or “sticker”) is occasionally used in formal writing, but هشتگ is the everyday spoken word for virtually all Iranians active on social media.
How to use it
- هشتگ فارسی بزار. (Hashtag-e fârsi bezâr.) “Use a Persian hashtag.”
- این پست چند تا هشتگ داره؟ (In post chand tâ hashtag dâre?) “How many hashtags does this post have?”
- هشتگ ترندینگ رو دنبال میکنم. (Hashtag-e trending ro donbâl mikonam.) “I follow the trending hashtag.”
- با هشتگ مناسب بیشتر دیده میشی. (Bâ hashtag-e monâseb bishtar dide mishi.) “With the right hashtag, you get more visibility.”
Cultural note
Persian-script hashtags are fully functional on Instagram and Twitter/X, and Iranian activists have used them powerfully for organizing, most famously during the Woman Life Freedom protests of 2022, when the hashtag زن زندگی آزادی trended globally. Persian hashtags read right to left but can include mixed-script words. Iranian social media users often stack five to thirty hashtags per post in the belief that more tags equal more reach, a practice that has spawned debate among Iranian content creators about hashtag strategy.