Hashtags on Twitter can be used for more than just funny commentary. Now there is a hashtag that will put helicopter parents’ minds at ease.

Non-Twitter users may be confused about the hashtag phenomenon, but it is basically a way to tag an idea or concept, which followers can click to find tweets about the same subject. For example, “Just read Police Beat, I’m pretty sure I’m the lead story. #awkward.” Followers can click on the hashtag and find stories about awkward moments. However, the new “#mom” serves a more functional purpose.

Twitter reported there were 200 million tweets and 600,000 sign-ups per day in 2011. Somewhere in that mix are students just like us, who find ourselves remembering to update a Facebook status or tweet before we even remember to do homework.

But some parents are frustrated by their children, who can remember to check in on FourSquare but forget to check in with Mom and Dad. Some parents, or moms specifically, worry when their children forget to call as soon as they get home or into town. That can all change with #mom.

The service, available at www.hashtagmom.com, is connected to your FourSquare account, which is linked to Twitter.

When you check in on FourSquare with a message like, “Just landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport,” just add #mom. The service then forwards the update to your mom’s cellphone via text message, or calls her with a recorded message to tell her that you have landed safely. Nothing could be better than social networking while maintaining your position as No. 1 son or daughter.

Students immerse themselves every day on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other sites, and every day students forget to call their mom or dad for the fifth time. Or parents would like to think they forget to call, rather than intentionally refusing in order to avoid that lengthy conversation. This is a convenient and faster way of communication for protective and worrying parents.

Of course there are those students who might worry about this forwarded message allowing Mom access to their Twitter accounts. Quite frankly, future employers can already look up potential employees’ Twitter accounts, so whatever might ruin a child-parent relationship probably should not be posted anyway. When we start censoring what we put out there on the Internet, there will be no need to worry about this new hashtag.

Besides, let’s be honest — how many parents actually know how to use Twitter? #Mom is a great way to keep parents informed when busy students forget to.

— Ashley T. Powell is a journalism sophomore. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.