Hashtags are dead.

And in fact, they've probably been dead for years.

2021 was actually the first time that I proclaimed that hashtags are dead. And since then, there have been more and more studies that have come out, features that have changed, and statements made by official Instagram staff that have supported that claim. Now, I think there's a pretty massive divide between the two groups of people who clicked on this episode. Half of you are like, yeah, Brock, I know hashtags are dead.

They've been dead for years.

So what do I do next? pretty massive divide between the two groups of people who clicked on this episode. Half of you are like, yeah, Brock, I know hashtags are dead.

They've been dead for years. So what do I do next? If that's you, go ahead and fast forward over the next few minutes. But if that's not you, and you clicked on this episode thinking, hashtags aren't dead, how am I supposed to grow on Instagram without hashtags? Hashtags are a central way to grow, right, Brock? Let me explain to you why I say they're dead.

Number one, there are multiple studies that have shown that they are far less effective nowadays than they were just a few years ago, including a recent social pilot study that showed that the more hashtags you used, the less views you received. And also according to that study, posts with zero hashtags performed the best. But of course, numbers can be deceptive. So what as Adam Moseri, the head of Instagram, said? He is on the record numerous times as saying,

hashtags are not a reliable way to increase your reach. No, adding hashtags does not meaningfully

increase the chances that you get more reach or meaningfully affect your reach. Hashtags still exist.

They do not meaningfully help your reach. People try to use them as a growth hack, but it's not particularly effective. I think it's a way to get a lot more reach and it's not. It is not an effective way to grow reach at all. Hashtags are no longer a primary way to increase your reach on Instagram. They don't significantly increase your reach on Instagram.

Gotcha to popular belief.

It's just not an important thing for reach.

But of course, he's the head of Instagram, so he's likely going to be telling you things

that are in Instagram's best interest, not necessarily always in your best interest.

So let's look at what features have changed.

Over the last few years, there are three

key features that have been removed from Instagram that signaled the declining importance or the

declining effectiveness of hashtags. The first one is that Instagram has removed the ability to

follow hashtags. You may not even know that this existed, but a few years ago, you were able to follow hashtags

just like you followed any other person. And when you followed a hashtag, top posts from within

that hashtag would show up in your feed. And that is the second major hashtag related feature

that Instagram has gotten rid of. You no longer see posts from hashtags in your feed from following the hashtags. And number three,

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