What does /# mean at the end of a web address?

[Carol Lynn]

[TrustMe]

I've included a link to the page for further conversation: http://community.write.com/topic/1430-wh...ashtag-do/

This the the definition of a Hashtag (the # symbol)

"The hashtag is used primarily on Twitter to categorize the specific message being conveyed by that user. For example, if a person is saying... "I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning $640 million dollars richer" #megamillions. It is conveying the fact that they plan on becoming $640 million dollars richer by winning megamillions. When any other user goes on Twitter and searches the phrase "megamillions", this persons tweet will appear in the search results because they categorized their tweet as relating to megamillions.

It is essentially a way for Twitter users to organize their conversations. If someone sends out a tweet about the Grammy's, they would add #grammys at the end of their tweet so that other users searching for tweets on the Grammy's, their tweet would show up in the search results. So the main purpose of the hashtag is to categorize users tweets on Twitter. "

[David]

No, the use of the hash or pound sign (#) at the end of a web address has nothing to do with Twitter hashtags. The symbol functions in URLs as a "fragment", "named anchor" or just a "placeholder", either opening the web page at the top or, if the hash sign is combined with a keyword (e.g. #gadget), it will open at a section further down the page with a particular heading. Here is one explanation of the use of the symbol in your context:

It's a "fragment" or "named anchor". You can use it to link to part of a document. Typically when you link to a page, the browser opens it up at the top of the page. But to link to a section half-way down, you can use the fragment to link to that heading (or whatever). If there is no <a name="whatever"/> tag within the page, then the browser will just link to the top of the page. If the fragment is empty, then it will also just link to the top of the page. For a fragment only <a href="#">Link name</a>, then that's just a link to the top of the current page. You often see that kind of link used in conjuction with javascript. Standards compliant HTML requires a href attribute, but if you're planning to handle the request with javascript then "#" serves as a reasonable place holder.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28001...sign-in-it

A similar question appeared on Y!A here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...604AA6juCY