Elon Musk continues to try and sever ties to the past, and as some of us still struggle to get used to the idea of X instead of Twitter, the tech overlord is determined to kill off that blue bird. After controversially becoming Twitter's new owner in October 2022, Elon Musk has re-modeled the popular social media platform in his own image. From getting rid of the iconic blue tick to introducing paid subscriptions, he's rolled back the block feature and promoted 'free speech' while batting off accusations that X has become a toxic wasteland.
While Musk is standing strong with his conviction, there were recent reports that X is worth 72% less than what he bought it for. If that wasn't enough to contend with, there's also been a mass exodus to Bluesky thanks to it offering more of a 'classic' Twitter feel.
Musk is doing what Musk does, and keen to leave Twitter in the past, he's asking X users to stop using hashtags.
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Going a little too meta for our liking, the hashtag #hashtag was trending on December 17 after Musk controversially told us to stop using them. Sharing a post where X employee Kettlebell Dan asked the artificial intelligence Grok chatbot whether we should be using hashtags, Musk explained, "The system doesn’t need them anymore and they look ugly."
Grok apparently said: "Oh, by all means, don't use hashtags on X. They've become about as useful as a screen door on a submarine."
It's a pretty sassy takedown of Twitter from Grok, but all might not be what it seems. If you ask Grok the same prompt, it actually says: "The use of hashtags on X (formerly Twitter) has become a nuanced topic with differing perspectives and evolving platform dynamics."
Grok then gives a breakdown of why you might still want to use hashtags. Previously, hashtags were used to promote keywords and lump topics together while supposedly increasing visibility, but according to Grok, "Some users and posts on X indicate that hashtags might even reduce post visibility or could be seen as spam by the algorithm."
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We wonder if those 'some users' are the likes of X owner Elon Musk.
Grok says that if you are still going to use hashtags, limit them to just one or two per post, and we'll agree with that because there's nothing spammier than a post that looks like a collage of hashtags.
Others weren't buying Musk’s musings and vowed to stick to the old ways. One hashtag stan said: "It’s easy for Elon Musk to dismiss hashtags with millions of followers at his fingertips, but for smaller accounts, hashtags can still play a strategic role."
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Another added: "I get it. You had to kill hashtags so you could be in control of the algorithm. I see all your moves. 😘."
A third simply said: "#DontTellMeWhatToDo Elon 😎🇺🇸👊🏾."
Still, if X employees are telling us not to use hashtags, it suggests the order has come from up on high to reduce their usage.