Today Facebook took a page from Twitter and announced that it's adding support for hashtags -- a popular tool to support public conversations in social media.

To use a Facebook hashtag -- such as #Boulder, simply type it into a post in a Facebook update. Then that update will become discoverable via Facebook search, according to the privacy settings for that update. For instance, hashtags used in public posts will be findable to everyone; but a post that is "friends only" or "friends of friends" will be findable only to those sets of Facebook users.

The Verge noted: "This change should make posts imported from other services, notably Twitter and Instagram, feel less out of place on Facebook. Before today, imported tweets that included hashtags would simply display as plain text. Now, that content will include the rich exploration features offered elsewhere. It's a small change, but it could make posts from other networks feel a little bit less stale when they arrive on Facebook, which has traditionally struggled to get its users to post about the 'now.'"

How can community news, engagement or information projects use Facebook hashtags?

1. Keep an eye on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest for posts and users relevant to your community. Hashtag use is more prevalent on these social media, so you'll probably get more results. What hashtags are they already using? Experiment with using these in your Facebook posts. It's much more effective to pick up on an already popular hashtag than to start one from scratch -- although you can try starting one from scratch (simply by using it) if you'd like to draw attention to an issue.

2. Get specific. For instance, using an established hashtag like #COwildfire on Facebook will probably yield better results than cramming #Colorado #wildfire in to a post. That's because, so far, Facebook search isn't too smart about searching for more than one hashtag at a time.

3. Post publicly. When you use a hashtag in a Facebook post, make that post publicly visible if possible. Many users have their default privacy settings for posts set to "friends only" or "friends of friends." You'll achieve greater Facebook search visibility with public posts that contain hashtags.

4. Use occasionally, but don't overuse, more generic hashtags. For instance, if you're seeking to engage or serve Chicagoans, you might occasionally include #Chicago in some Facebook posts, to attract the attention of Chicago Facebook users who aren't already familiar with your efforts. But putting #Chicago in every Facebook update will look a bit cheesy. Be selective, and use the generic hashtags to highlight posts that you'd like to use to broaden your audience. (The same goes for generic hashtags like #food and #sustainability.)

5. Search Facebook periodically for current posts on hashtags that interest you. This may point you to new developments, perspectives, and users that may be relevant to your efforts.

So far, Facebook doesn't let you save a search so you can automatically see the latest posts to interesting hashtags (something that's easy to do in many Twitter clients). So you'll have to do this manually -- but it may be worth the effort. If you forget which hashtags you searched for previously, you can find them under your Facebook activity log (as long as you've checked the "show 'only me' activity" option).