#Beautiful: Why hashtags are going to the top of the charts

Mariah Carey has released a song titled #Beautiful (AFP)

As if the pop charts didn’t have enough problems with dwindling sales, they now appear to be dealing with a case of hashtag-itis.

This embarrassing condition, likely spread by marketing executives trying to seduce the world’s youth, causes the infamous # to appear in the titles of pop singles like a rash.

Popular with collaborations, the social-media-obsessed will.i.am and Justin Bieber helped get the ball rolling with their song, “#thatPOWER” which was taken from will’s (or should that be i.am’s?) album #willpower.

Even those old enough to know better are getting in on the act: take J.Lo and Pitbull’s song “#LiveItUp” or Mariah Carey’s effort with Miguel, “#Beautiful”.

Many have pointed out that while the prefix can make searching social media useful, if you look for “#beautiful”, and you’re just as likely to get a picture of someone’s baby or breakfast as you are a comment on the song.

It’s surely only a matter of time before someone releases a single called “#hashtag” or worse, “##”.