Do hashtags serve any purpose in the modern social media landscape?
This question has become more prominent in 2024, especially after Threads took an entirely different approach to hashtag use, including a one tag limit per update.
The intention of this was to limit spamming of popular topics with unrelated updates, but it also highlighted the declining value of manual hashtags, because modern algorithms and sorting systems are now able to infer context and topic info from the post detail itself.
Which is what LinkedIn told me earlier this year, that while it still supports hashtags:
“We also consider conversation topics and keywords to help surface relevant information for professionals looking to advance in their careers.”
Advances in semantic search capacity have essentially rendered hashtags unnecessary for discovery, and this week, X owner Elon Musk directly urged users to stop adding hashtags to their updates.
As Musk notes, the system “doesn’t need them anymore,” which again points to the fact that hashtags don’t provide the same value that they once did.
But maybe they can still help to drive more reach and engagement?
Probably not.
According to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, while hashtags can help to align your posts with certain communities, which can have some discovery benefits, overall, the reach benefit of hashtags is virtually none, while LinkedIn expert Richard van der Blom has found, in his research, that hashtags also no longer help to expand post reach in that app either.
Though they can still serve a purpose, in terms of building community and enhancing connection.
Maybe, through hashtag discovery, you can still establish new groups and followings, even if they don’t relate to popular trends, while many people look to add tags as a habitual behavior.
And some social media advisors and experts will still swear by hashtags as a means to improve reach. That may or may not be true on a case-by-case basis, but the overall feedback from the platforms is that hashtags don’t really do much on this front.
Indeed, Instagram has even removed the option to follow hashtags. Yet, at the same time, the Threads team is still recommending that users add topic tags to their posts.
So there are some conflicting notes on how and why you should use them, but the overall consensus is that hashtags are not as valuable as they once were, in terms of systematic process, because the algorithms and systems are now much better at detecting topical relevance and resonance from the broader context of the post.
So you can still add hashtags, and maybe you’ll find that they’re helping you connect with the right audience. But their actual application, in terms of helping the right people find the most relevant content, is not as significant in the age of custom “For You” feeds.
You might also consider adding tags when the topic you want to target isn’t explicitly mentioned in your post text, though a lot of matching is now also done at the profile level too, meaning that you’re likely going to reach the right audience, even if you don’t include exact terms.
Either way, it could be worth noting for your approach in 2025, in considering what you need to do to maximize your performance.
With the platforms themselves saying they don’t need them, maybe it’s time to move on from hashtags as a strategic consideration (if you haven’t already).
