Rishi Jobanputra, LinkedIn’s head of product, noted that the platform’s algorithm now better understands what each post is about, matching content with the right audience. He said the hashtag feed was underused and the company is phasing it out. He added that hashtags remain useful mainly for topic searches and encouraged users to choose a handful of tags that closely match their subject matter, avoiding excessive use. Here’s what he said in his video message:
“Since hashtags were introduced over a decade ago, I’d say our feed algorithms have really evolved, and we are just doing a better job at understanding what content is about and trying to match it to the right audiences. In fact, we used to have a hashtag feed in the past, but people were not really using it. So, we are actually in the process of getting rid of it. Now, where hashtags can come in useful is when people are trying to search for a specific trend or topic. My advice for using hashtags is to make sure you are using ones that are related to the topic you are discussing, and don’t go overboard with them.”
This move mirrors trends on other social media platforms. Instagram announced it will disable its “following hashtags” feature on December 13, 2024. That means users can no longer follow specific tags or see related posts in their main feeds, a change partly made to reduce spam and low-quality content. However, hashtags still function in search and exploration tools.
In contrast, platforms like X continue to depend on hashtags as a central method of surfacing organic live-topic conversations and events. However, it said goodbye to hashtags in promoted posts.
LinkedIn isn’t eliminating hashtags entirely for now. Users can still include tags in their posts or use them for searches. But the platform’s emphasis is shifting. It now values the clarity of expression and algorithmic matching over tag frequency. As a result, post visibility will depend more on how clearly topics are described and how well the system spots relevant content, rather than the presence of hashtags.
H/T: @Mattnavarra / Threads
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: DIW-Aigen.
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