Elon Musk on why X users should stop using Hashtags

On By Littum

Billionaire CEO of X (formerly Twitter) Elon Musk recently criticized the use of hashtags on the platform, calling them unnecessary and ugly. His remarks were in response to a discussion sparked by an X user who shared insights about hashtags based on feedback from Grok, X’s AI tool. According to Grok, hashtags are “as useful as a screen door on a submarine” and a “ticket to nowhere”. “Nothing screams ‘I’m trying too hard’ like a tweet filled with hashtags, each one a desperate cry into the internet void where your content will absolutely not be lost among the other millions of posts using #blessed or #justgirlythings, ” it said.

In response to this post, Mr. Musk: “Please stop using hashtags. The system doesn’t need them anymore and they look ugly.”

Take a look below:

Musk’s response quickly drew several reactions. While some users supported his stance, others defended the continued use of hashtags for content organization and visibility.

“My job is social media management – one of the first things I explain to brands is that I don’t use hashtags because they’re ugly and just make their account look spammy. I also recommend that you don’t use gifs and try to stay away from links,” one user commented.

“Hashtags are useful for hyperlinking posts on a topic and can be used to identify topics that are trending,” explained another. “The great thing about hashtags is that you can just click on them and see posts with the same hashtag. In that regard, I don’t see any alternative to specific topics and areas of use,” wrote a third user.

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“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,” said one.

“This kind of thing is exactly why certain accounts get millions of undeserved views. The fact that the algorithm doesn’t ‘use’ hashtags is proof that the algorithm above is manipulating the content we see. We should be able to see everything, posted by the accounts we follow, with the option (to) search hashtags, not force-fed the content the app wants us to see, even if it’s from accounts we don’t follow,” wrote another.

“One thing you’ve overlooked imo is that they’re still the easiest way to find related posts – one click and you’ll find them, that’s why hashtags are useful from a user pov. Is there another 1-click way if you can’t like them?” asked one user.