Social media has reinvented the phone’s pound sign, giving birth to the now ubiquitous ‘hashtag.’ If you immediately understand what I’m referring to, you have one-up on my mother. Despite the barrage of TV ads referencing the hashtag and the fact that it’s been clickable since 2009, my mom has no idea what one is or what it’s used for, and she’s content to continue living in her hashtag ignorance.

Unlike my mother, there are those who would argue that they know exactly what a hashtag is and just how to use it. My Facebook newsfeed begs to differ.

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I averted my eyes from a billboard while driving on the highway today. I won’t pretend like I did it for the sake of keeping my eyes on the road; I did it out of principle. I’m still not sure what it was advertising, though if the previous twenty I had already seen were any indication, it was likely a brief but nevertheless compelling argument for why my current insurance provider was inadequate.

Hm. I never realized.

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Hello, and welcome to Questions from a Language Ninja! This is where the Ninja does her level best to answer complex linguistic queries, despite the fact that her qualifications come exclusively from her extensive experience in writing ransom notes. Let’s get started!

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There are a range of voices and styles you can use for your web content, and the right voice for you depends on your business. It’s doubtful that people will want to lend their trust and confidence to a heart surgeon whose landing page is full of knee-slappers, but if you’re in a more lighthearted (no pun intended) line of work, you may wish to incorporate some G-rated humor into your content to engage your audience. Heck, make it PG.

But when it comes to your online content, how edgy is too far?

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