Instagram Hashtags in 2025: Why They No Longer Boost Your Reach — and What to Focus On Instead

For years, hashtags were seen as the golden ticket to social media growth. Add the right tags, get more eyeballs — simple, right?

Not anymore.

In a recent conversation, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, laid it all out:

“Hashtags are no longer a primary way to increase your reach on Instagram... contrary to public belief, it’s just not an important thing for reach.”

So if hashtags aren’t helping you grow, what should you do instead?

Here’s what’s changed — and how to shift your strategy.

🚫 What’s Changed With Hashtags?

Instagram has made several quiet but significant changes over the past few years:

• You can no longer follow hashtags

• The ‘Recent’ tab under hashtag pages has been removed

• Hashtag feeds are no longer chronological

• Ranking is now controlled algorithmically to filter out spam and harmful content

  
  

According to Mosseri, the "recent" section was removed because it was being abused by bad actors. Spam content would flood feeds with borderline-violating posts that weren’t technically against the rules but created a poor user experience.

“It just became not worth it. If you allow us to rank [hashtags], we can filter out spam, repetitive, or unoriginal content. We can’t do that if it’s just a chronological feed.”

So hashtags haven’t been removed — but they’re no longer a visibility tool. They’re simply a way to help Instagram understand what your post is about, not a growth mechanism.

Banned Hashtags Still Exist — and Could Silence Your Post

Yes, banned hashtags are still a thing. Mosseri confirmed that if you use a banned tag (often linked to sensitive or dangerous content, like self-harm), the tag won’t turn into a link — meaning your post is no longer discoverable via that tag.

“It’s not a strike… it just won’t turn into a link.”

So using them won’t get your account penalised — but it will render the hashtag useless.

📊 So What Does Impact Reach on Instagram in 2025?

Instagram’s algorithm now prioritises:

✅ Content that drives meaningful engagement:

– Shares, saves, comments– Time spent watching (especially for Reels)– Profile visits and follows from a post

✅ Content that builds relevance and trust:

– Posts that match your audience’s interests– Captions that use keywords rather than tags– Consistent, high-quality posting (especially video)

✅ Content that’s rank-worthy, not spammy:

– Original, helpful, or entertaining– Not overstuffed with hashtags or engagement bait– Visually polished and clearly branded

Hashtags on Facebook: Do They Still Matter?

While Facebook still allows hashtags, they’ve never played as significant a role in discovery as they did on Instagram. And like Instagram, their visibility impact has declined even further in recent years.

Mosseri didn’t speak directly about Facebook in that video, but the algorithmic logic across Meta platforms is closely aligned — especially now that Facebook is pushing Reels and recommendation-driven feeds just like Instagram.

🧠 What Facebook Does Prioritise in 2025:

✅ Posts that drive conversations and reactions

✅ Reels and video content that hold attention

✅ Original, engaging, and shareable formats

✅ Content that keeps users on the platform longer

🎯 In Summary

Hashtags are no longer your growth lever — and haven’t been for a while. Instagram’s shift towards smarter ranking means real reach now comes from content quality and audience connection.