Instagram puts a limit on hashtag usage

In a bid to help clamp down on spam on the platform, Instagram has announced new limitations on the use of hashtags. While there is certainly some value in hashtags for the tracking and categorization possibilities they offer, they are also open to abuse.

If you have been confused, frustrated, angered or otherwise responded negatively to an Instagram post which has dozens and dozens of hashtags, the new policy will come as good news. Details were shared about the changes not in a news release or even an Instagram post, but in a post to Threads.

The move is not a surprising one. Instagram has been pushing the idea for some time that hashtags are nowhere near as important as they used to be for content in terms of discoverability. And having morphed into something which is so open to abuse that it renders posts annoying or practically illegible, putting restrictions in place makes a lot of sense.

Moving forward, posts and reels will be limited to no more than five hashtags. In the Threads post, the company says:

Instagram will gradually update the number of hashtags that you can include in a caption for a reel or post to five. We find that using fewer (up to 5) more targeted hashtags, rather than many generic ones, can improve both your content’s performance and people’s experience on Instagram.

The post goes on to offer some “Tips for Optimal Hashtag Use”:

Be intentional with the hashtags you include and focus on ones that are relevant to the content you're publishing. For example, if you're a beauty creator, use beauty-related hashtags to help people interested in beauty content find you.

Don't spam your caption with too many irrelevant or generic hashtags, like #reels or #explore. Those types of hashtags don't actually help your content appear in places like Explore and could, in fact, hurt your content's performance.

How do you feel about this change, either as a creator for or as a consumer of Instagram? Does this seem like a sensible move, or is it an unnecessary restriction?

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