Andreas Bernard is Professor of Cultural Studies at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, and author of The Triumph of Profiling.

• Contents1. A Sign of the Times2. Hashtags and the Dispersion of Statements3. The Biography of a Symbol4. Where Was the Keyword Before the Hashtag?5. Venues of the Hashtag I: Political Activism6. Venues of the Hashtag II: Marketing7. Empowering and LevellingWorks Cited

“A lucid and lively history of this most polymorphous of punctuation marks.  Andreas Bernard traces the hashtag's rise from technical utility to seeming ubiquity with wit and insight.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London"Slim but weighty"Morning Star

Andreas Bernard is Professor of Cultural Studies at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, and author of The Triumph of Profiling.

• Contents1. A Sign of the Times2. Hashtags and the Dispersion of Statements3. The Biography of a Symbol4. Where Was the Keyword Before the Hashtag?5. Venues of the Hashtag I: Political Activism6. Venues of the Hashtag II: Marketing7. Empowering and LevellingWorks Cited

“A lucid and lively history of this most polymorphous of punctuation marks.  Andreas Bernard traces the hashtag's rise from technical utility to seeming ubiquity with wit and insight.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London"Slim but weighty"Morning Star

Andreas Bernard is Professor of Cultural Studies at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, and author of The Triumph of Profiling.

• Contents1. A Sign of the Times2. Hashtags and the Dispersion of Statements3. The Biography of a Symbol4. Where Was the Keyword Before the Hashtag?5. Venues of the Hashtag I: Political Activism6. Venues of the Hashtag II: Marketing7. Empowering and LevellingWorks Cited

“A lucid and lively history of this most polymorphous of punctuation marks.  Andreas Bernard traces the hashtag's rise from technical utility to seeming ubiquity with wit and insight.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London"Slim but weighty"Morning Star