Meta-owned social media platform Instagram made an important announcement on Friday regarding content discovery. The company has decided to limit the number of hashtags that users can add to their posts and reels.
This move is aimed at reducing hashtag misuse and encouraging creators to use hashtags more carefully and meaningfully.
Hashtag Limit Reduced from 30 to 5
Instagram has officially ended the option of using up to 30 hashtags. Under the new rule introduced on Friday, users can now add only 5 hashtags to a post or reel.
Hashtags have been a key feature on Instagram since 2011 and were earlier seen as essential for increasing content reach.
However, Meta now believes that using a small number of accurate and relevant hashtags is more effective than adding many unnecessary ones.
Reason Behind This Decision
The main reason for this change is to reduce spam content on the platform. Instagram says that when creators use too many hashtags, it becomes difficult for the algorithm to clearly understand the category of the content.
Using fewer and more precise hashtags helps improve post performance and ensures that content reaches users who are genuinely interested in that topic. This step is meant to make content discovery more transparent and efficient.
Generic Hashtags Will No Longer Boost Reach
Many creators often use common hashtags like #reels, #trending, or #explore to make their content go viral. Instagram has now clarified that such generic hashtags will no longer help posts appear on the Explore Feed.
In fact, using these tags may even reduce a post’s reach. The platform now encourages creators to use 3 to 5 specific hashtags related to their niche.
For example, beauty creators should use hashtags related only to makeup or beauty to reach the right audience.
Instagram Head’s Statement on Hashtags
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has already stated that hashtags no longer play a major role in content reach and visibility.
According to him, hashtags are no longer the primary factor that decides how widely a post is shown on the platform.
