Banned Words--Posted in January

There was a post in January about banned words from the dictionary. This year on the list was "hashtag" "selfie" and "twerk." While I think "swag" should be included, it is an interesting idea that these words can be banned. They're a pop culture reference that is finding its way into blogs, media, and papers! 

With schools increasing their use of blog (example here of our class) and teaching of blogging, and internet writing these words are hard to deny. Especially hashtag, a common use for most sites for tagging topics. #Rhetoric #Pedagogy

What's this mean for first year writing? 
Well, most students starting in college tend to hashtag their selfies. And most of us have opinions on this act, *cough* annoying *cough, cough*.  They might write about them in stories describing themselves, or put them on their Moodle profiles. They're becoming part of the technology we use personally, professionally, and within education.

I run a wordpress, and to get readers, you "Hashtag" your subjects as I did above to direct their interests when they search for it. Even Weebly has a categories option! 

Schools are using these mediums for educational purposes but then banning the word hashtag from the dictionary? That seems kind of circular, and not exactly appropriate.

Selfie and twerk have become a part of our social networking life (or if you're me, not a part of it at all), so they are less likely to appear in a paper. Who wants to tell their professor about twerking in selfies?
It is even more unlikely that a professor would make a student write about these subjects.
These words make more sense than hashtag, as they are only part of the social networking life, and they shouldn't really appear in a classroom. 

Hashtag plays integral roles regarding blogging though, and while schools are increasing their usage of blogs, and teaching students to be better blog/internet writers, blocking hashtag is a death wish for those blogs. #RIP 

What do you think? Do you hate the word hashtag?

-Jenn