web01.fireside.fm Sat, 04 Apr 2026 20:57:23 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Happy Paths - Episodes Tagged with “Chris Messina” https://happy-paths.fireside.fm/tags/chris%20messina Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0400 Happy Paths, a series from CommandBar, explores the human process behind some of the most well-known software of the internet era. In each episode, host James Evans dives deep on one iconic product or feature — like Gmail, the hashtag, or Twitter Spaces — with the people who built them. We will pull back the curtain on the little details of how they were made, giving context for our audience on who uses these products, as well as providing practical learnings for other product practitioners. en-us episodic Happy Paths, a series from CommandBar, explores the human process behind some of the most well-known software of the internet era. CommandBar Happy Paths, a series from CommandBar, explores the human process behind some of the most well-known software of the internet era. In each episode, host James Evans dives deep on one iconic product or feature — like Gmail, the hashtag, or Twitter Spaces — with the people who built them. We will pull back the curtain on the little details of how they were made, giving context for our audience on who uses these products, as well as providing practical learnings for other product practitioners. no Happy Paths, UX, user experience, product manager, growth product manager, UX designer, UX engineer CommandBar paul@commandbar.com The Hashtag with Chris Messina https://happy-paths.fireside.fm/the-hashtag-chris-messina d716c04e-39f0-4aad-8d95-1310cde99b02 Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0400 CommandBar full 1 CommandBar What do TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have in common? It's the hashtag: invented by a man of the internet, Chris Messina. Throughout his career, Chris has worked on movements online and offline that have helped define social media and social technology broadly. If you've used Firefox, attended a BarCamp event, or even checked in at a co-working space, then you're more than familiar with Chris' widespread impact. James sat down with Chris to learn more about the hashtag and to see how a simple feature proposed via a tweet evolved social media basically everywhere on the internet. 24:33 no What do TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have in common? It's the hashtag: invented by a man of the internet, Chris Messina. Throughout his career, Chris has worked on movements online and offline that have helped define social media and social technology broadly. If you've used Firefox, attended a BarCamp event, or even checked in at a co-working space, then you're more than familiar with Chris' widespread impact. James sat down with Chris to learn more about the hashtag and to see how a simple feature proposed via a tweet evolved social media basically everywhere on the internet. Bio Chris Messina has spent a decade working on social technologies, designing products and experiences, working with startups, and changing the world by giving away many of his creations, including the hashtag. His skillset is broad, anchored in product and user experience design. He has created movements online and off, and has acted as an effective agent of change in large and small organizations. In 2004, he helped organize the grassroots movement that propelled Mozilla Firefox to its first 100 million downloads. In 2005, he co-organized the first BarCamp and then popularized the unconference event model to over 350 cities around the world. In 2006, he opened the first dedicated coworking space in San Francisco, giving rise to a global movement. Then in 2007, he brought the idea for the hashtag to Twitter, changing social media forever and galvanizing social revolutions across the globe. During his time at Google as a Developer Advocate, he lead the creation of Google Developers as a brand and central hub for all of Google’s developer tools, services, and documentation. Later, as a UX designer on the Google+ team, he redesigned the Google Profile, unifying 46 discrete representations of a person across the company's various products. He also lead the efforts to design Google+’s publisher platform offerings, including the +1 button and other embeddable publisher widgets. He has spoken at conferences like SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, Google I/O, and Microsoft's Future Decoded, and has frequently been quoted in media outlets like The New York Times, Business Week, LA Times, Washington Post, and Wired. Links Chris Messina - Website (https://chrismessina.me/) - Twitter (https://twitter.com/chrismessina) - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/factoryjoe/) - Mastodon (https://mastodon.xyz/@chrismessina) James Evans - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-evans-7086b3126/) CommandBar - Follow CommandBar (https://www.commandbar.com/) on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/commandbar/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/CommandBar). Chris Messina, hashtag, Twitter What do TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have in common? It's the hashtag: invented by a man of the internet, Chris Messina. Throughout his career, Chris has worked on movements online and offline that have helped define social media and social technology broadly. If you've used Firefox, attended a BarCamp event, or even checked in at a co-working space, then you're more than familiar with Chris' widespread impact.

James sat down with Chris to learn more about the hashtag and to see how a simple feature proposed via a tweet evolved social media basically everywhere on the internet.

Bio

Chris Messina has spent a decade working on social technologies, designing products and experiences, working with startups, and changing the world by giving away many of his creations, including the hashtag.

His skillset is broad, anchored in product and user experience design. He has created movements online and off, and has acted as an effective agent of change in large and small organizations.

In 2004, he helped organize the grassroots movement that propelled Mozilla Firefox to its first 100 million downloads. In 2005, he co-organized the first BarCamp and then popularized the unconference event model to over 350 cities around the world. In 2006, he opened the first dedicated coworking space in San Francisco, giving rise to a global movement. Then in 2007, he brought the idea for the hashtag to Twitter, changing social media forever and galvanizing social revolutions across the globe.

During his time at Google as a Developer Advocate, he lead the creation of Google Developers as a brand and central hub for all of Google’s developer tools, services, and documentation. Later, as a UX designer on the Google+ team, he redesigned the Google Profile, unifying 46 discrete representations of a person across the company's various products. He also lead the efforts to design Google+’s publisher platform offerings, including the +1 button and other embeddable publisher widgets.

He has spoken at conferences like SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, Google I/O, and Microsoft's Future Decoded, and has frequently been quoted in media outlets like The New York Times, Business Week, LA Times, Washington Post, and Wired.

Links

Chris Messina

James Evans

CommandBar

]]> What do TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have in common? It's the hashtag: invented by a man of the internet, Chris Messina. Throughout his career, Chris has worked on movements online and offline that have helped define social media and social technology broadly. If you've used Firefox, attended a BarCamp event, or even checked in at a co-working space, then you're more than familiar with Chris' widespread impact.

James sat down with Chris to learn more about the hashtag and to see how a simple feature proposed via a tweet evolved social media basically everywhere on the internet.

Bio

Chris Messina has spent a decade working on social technologies, designing products and experiences, working with startups, and changing the world by giving away many of his creations, including the hashtag.

His skillset is broad, anchored in product and user experience design. He has created movements online and off, and has acted as an effective agent of change in large and small organizations.

In 2004, he helped organize the grassroots movement that propelled Mozilla Firefox to its first 100 million downloads. In 2005, he co-organized the first BarCamp and then popularized the unconference event model to over 350 cities around the world. In 2006, he opened the first dedicated coworking space in San Francisco, giving rise to a global movement. Then in 2007, he brought the idea for the hashtag to Twitter, changing social media forever and galvanizing social revolutions across the globe.

During his time at Google as a Developer Advocate, he lead the creation of Google Developers as a brand and central hub for all of Google’s developer tools, services, and documentation. Later, as a UX designer on the Google+ team, he redesigned the Google Profile, unifying 46 discrete representations of a person across the company's various products. He also lead the efforts to design Google+’s publisher platform offerings, including the +1 button and other embeddable publisher widgets.

He has spoken at conferences like SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, Google I/O, and Microsoft's Future Decoded, and has frequently been quoted in media outlets like The New York Times, Business Week, LA Times, Washington Post, and Wired.

Links

Chris Messina

James Evans

CommandBar

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