Twitter launches new 'hashflags' for political parties to brighten up election coverage

Party supporters now have another way to identify each other

(Getty)

Twitter has launched a new round of 'hashflags' to brighten up general election coverge on the social network.

Users who post hastags representing one of the ten biggest parties will see a small emoji-like icon automatically appended to the end of the text of the tag.

The social network announced the new feature in a tweet this morning.

The Liberal Democrats reacted immediately to the announcement

The parties covered by the move are #conservative #labour #libdems #ukip #greens #snp #plaid15 #dup #sdlp and #respectparty

Sinn Fein, the second largest party in Northern Ireland with 5 MPs, does not have a hashflag. The far-right British National Party was also notable by its absence.

A spokesperson for Twitter said that the company had asked all parties with MPs in the last Parliament to participate in the hashflags and that those had given permission to use their logo were listed.

The hashflags do not currently show up in Tweetdeck, which is used by many journalists.

Other topics to previously get the hashflag treatment include the World Cup and Ramadan.

Twitter has also compiled a guide to help journalists and politicians or campaigners during the election.

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