The use of hashtags in Polish doctors’ posts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article concerns the use of hashtags in doctors’ posts in social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most important theoretical issues related to the notion and communicative meaning of hashtags are discussed and the results of the author’s own research are presented here. During the research, the total number of 516 hashtags used in 86 posts were recorded. This article demonstrates a catalogue of the most common hashtags and discusses the hashtag typology developed based on the aggregated collection: impressives, persuasive nominations, self-identification hashtags, proper names, thematic hashtags. It proposes also several conclusions on the manner of using social networking services by doctors. Keywords: hashtag – social media – doctor – COVID-19 – vaccination – coronavirus – post.