A method, system and computer program product for assisting a user in selecting a desired hashtag. The text of a message that is composed by a user is parsed to determine the topic of interest, the sentiment of the message and the target audience. The historical and current communications for the target audience are evaluated to identify hashtags that are trending on the topic of the composed message. Furthermore, the historical and current communications for the target audience are evaluated to identify hashtags that match the desired sentiment of the composed message. The propagation speeds of the identified hashtags will then be identified. A recommended hashtag is then generated to be populated in the composed message that will increase a propagation speed of the composed message and/or emphasize the sentiment of the composed message based on these evaluations and the propagation speeds of the hashtags.