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Soon you will no longer be able to follow hashtags on Instagram. Those you follow will no longer appear in the feed. Story highlights are also added to the profile grid, including a new tab.
It is a change that fundamentally changes Instagram as many users have known it for years. The platform will soon discontinue the hashtag Following, further reducing its relevance. There could be a good reason for that. Meanwhile, story highlights may soon be highlighted more clearly than ever before.
The end of hashtag following
Instagram announces that users will no longer be able to follow hashtags starting December 13th. Hashtags they already follow will also no longer appear in the feed after this date.
While this update may upset some users, it may be because many spammers use hashtags to post irrelevant content as part of trending hashtags. Above all, the relevance of hashtags has been declining for several years. Months ago, Instagram, for example, tested limiting the number of hashtags per post to five tags. However, in 2022, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri declared: “Hashtags still matter.”
Use hashtags. Don’t use 20, just use a couple. No one really wants to see 20 hashtags. But again, that also helps us connect people wit photos and videos that they’re going to find inspiring and amazing.
A few months ago, the platform changed the search and hashtag experience. Anyone who taps on hashtags will now be shown the search results that match these hashtags. Users can continue to follow and unfollow hashtags – or report them if in doubt.
We were able to use the hashtags to get search results that are displayed first in the For You section. Users can also sort by accounts, audio elements, reels and the like. However, the content is not displayed chronologically.
However, the development and consideration of hashtags may have now come to an end. This could also be due to the fact that context searches will probably be carried out more often in the future using generative AI, such as Meta AI.
Instagram is changing the hashtag and search experience
© Brett Jordan – Unsplash
Change is also in sight for story highlights
Instagram also has an innovation up its sleeve for story highlights, which not all creators may like. In the future, these will probably be moved to the profile grid, where they could appear prominently next to posts and reels in a dedicated tab. The app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi has already discovered a corresponding view.
Adam Mosseri recently explained this change in his Ask Me Anything series. Accordingly, the UI should be optimized. This means users can see more relevant content above the fold more quickly and use a simple but logical view.
How will the changes to Instagram’s hashtag experience affect the way users interact with content on the platform?
1. What do you think about the upcoming changes to the hashtag experience on Instagram? Do you think it will be beneficial for users and the platform as a whole? How will it impact creators who rely on hashtags to gain visibility for their content?
2. Story highlights are being moved to the profile grid, creating a dedicated tab. How do you see this change affecting user engagement with stories and overall content consumption on the platform? Will it help or hinder discovery of various types of content on Instagram?
3. We’re entering a new era of AI-assisted content discovery on social media platforms like Instagram. What kind of role do you see hashtags playing in this context? Will they lose relevance or transform into something new?
4. In regards to the proposed change in the search algorithm, how do you see it impacting smaller creators who may not have the same resources as bigger accounts to optimize their posts for AI-assisted search results?
5. How do you think Instagram can balance its quest for improved user experience with the need to keep its users engaged and interested? Is there a risk of alienating its core audience with these changes?
