I am not a big fan of flags.
To me, flags are often less about unifying people, as they are about unifying people against “the other.”
I suspect this utility of being a tool against the other is based on their first use as a military tool, 5000 years ago, on the battlefields of Egypt and Assyria, when defining the other was a life and death decision.
My inner vexillologist (a student of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags) is particularly wary of the over-display of the flags of countries, as this likely means someone—or some group—is trying to dumb-down complex issues to a single symbol: Don’t think about it too much. You are either with me or against me. Let’s prepare for battle.
And that’s where Twitter hashtags come in.
Just as there are some flags that are very useful (such as a flag showing a Riptide at the beach), there are some hashtags that are very useful, such as #OW2020 (Obesity Week 2020), a typical medical conference hashtag allowing people to digitally connect pre, post and during an event.
But there are also some Twitter hashtags which—similar to the flags of countries preparing for battle and under the guise of unity—are meant to divide, to dumb-down a conversation, to identify the other.
Be very wary of these types of Twitter hashtags—these country-like, culturally driven digital flags— because when you type them out and hit “tweet” you may well be entering a battle, one which is meant to turn on the other, but which can also turn on you.