A hash mark, number sign, pound sign. Even octothorpe – there are a lot of names for the # symbol that have been around for a very long time. But today, when it’s used in social media for a tweet or post, there’s an important question: Are hashtags still a thing?
The answers are yes, and it depends.
Hashtags organize and categorize content, making it discoverable to others through search. This increases post visibility. They also extend the meaning of a post and can indicate support and solidarity for a concept or organization. How to use hashtags and how many you should use varies across channels; here are some general guidelines:
Instagram – use up to 30!
Twitter/X – use sparingly, 1-2 are recommended
Facebook – not used as much as on other platforms, use them primarily to summarize or emphasize a post
TikTok – hashtags play a major role in how its algorithm surfaces content
LinkedIn – stick to industry-related or job-specific hashtags, usually 2-3
YouTube – they help categorize videos, use 1-3 topic specific
Pinterest – very important, they function similarly to keywords. Use 2-5
What makes hashtags effective in gaining more visibility for your posts?
Engagement – high levels of likes, shares, and comments are crucial
Popularity – the more niche the hashtag, the easier it is to rank higher with fewer followers
Timing – posting when the hashtag is trending or when your audience is most active
But are # still a thing?
Yes, but it depends on the platform, the topic and the hashtag. Hashtags remain a tool, but algorithms consider content, SEO context and keywords as much if not more than hashtags. They’re not going to help much if there are 200,000+ posts using the same one(s) – high competition means your posts get buried.
Keep using them but make sure they are related to your content and target audience. Make sure to use the right number for the platform and be certain they are strategically researched and selected. There are free hashtag tools including https://metahashtags.com/, https://www.tagsfinder.com/en-us/ or https://www.all-hashtag.com/, among others. While hashtags are useful across all channels, most of these tools focus on Twitter and Instagram.
You might find it interesting to know that the most popular hashtag, #love, has been used more than 1.2 billion times. Maybe it really does make the world go round!