There are reports that some TikTok users have recently received a prompt limiting them to 5 hashtags per post. Naturally, this got us asking: do hashtags still matter?
Wait, What’s Happening With Hashtags?
Social media behaviors are constantly evolving, and the trajectory of the hashtag is one of the biggest changes between the early days of social media and today. Gone are the days of spamming 40+ tags in the captions and comments of posts. Platforms have gotten savvy to these deceptive engagement practices and have thus deprioritized the value of hashtags over time.
A classic #OOTD on an outfit post is not what it used to be. Plus, as more posts are shared on a social media platform, the more saturated a hashtag becomes. Popular tags can now have millions of posts tagged, making it difficult to find new or relevant content.
However, we here at The Digital Dept. still see the value in a strategic hashtag or two. Social media has become the new search platform for younger users, especially, so utilizing searchable tags and SEO terms can help with the discoverability of your content.
Our Advice On Using Hashtags Strategically
Our advice is to use 3 to 5 relevant hashtags on your post, and to make sure that these tags are specific and targeted. You can also further improve the searchability of your content with SEO-like terms in your captions. Think of how you search for topics as a social media user. What are you typing in to search bars? How do you discover content as a viewer? Take some time to think about how you use search functions on social media platforms to help guide your captions, text overlays, and tags.
TikTok prompting a limit of 5 hashtags per post is a good compromise, in our opinion. It encourages users to be selective and specific with their tagging, while also recognizing that hashtags still provide a helpful way to classify, categorize, and search for content.
