The use of hashtags on social media has changed over time. If years ago they played a crucial role in the visibility of posts, today we cannot say the same.
But before understanding whether they are still important or not, let’s answer the question: what is a hashtag?
Each hashtag is formed by the hash symbol (#) associated with a specific word (example: #marketing) and is used to categorize content and make it easily searchable by users.
Initially, especially on Instagram, the hashtag had a great impact on the visibility of a post. Subsequently, over time and with the consequent evolution of algorithms used by social media, it lost value.
In the past, it was even possible to follow hashtags on Instagram to not miss posts mentioning the hashtag in question!
We can make a similar argument for YouTube tags. In this case, the platform itself states the marginal role of tags: tags can be useful if the content of your videos is often misspelled. Otherwise, the role of tags in helping users find your video is minimal.
So, does it still make sense to use them? Certainly!
Currently, hashtags do not affect reach but are mainly used to help the algorithm understand the content of a post and index it.
Even Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, has stated on several occasions that hashtags no longer impact the visibility of a post.
Nowadays, social media like TikTok or Instagram show content to users through increasingly personalized feeds, associating their algorithm with AI-based functionalities.
Through text, the content of images/videos, hashtags, and more generally, the context of a post (such as user interactions), social networks determine the topic of the published post and show it to users who might appreciate it more.
Therefore, it is extremely important to ask the right questions, such as “Are the contents I publish qualitatively relevant to users?”, “Is my profile well optimized?” and set aside less relevant questions, like “Why aren’t my hashtags working on Instagram?”.
In conclusion, we recommend using 3-5 hashtags in each post, alternating popular hashtags with niche ones, and ensuring they are highly relevant to the topic of the published content.
