Bad news for social media users as Instagram decides to…, may impact…

Instagram has announced the official hashtag limit for creators and everyday users, stating it will begin rolling out on December 19, 2025. The social network will allow users to add a maximum of five hashtags per post or Reel, down from 30 hashtags before.

Meta’s update is in line with its push to give the meaning behind hashtagging more weight in recommendations and have users and creators be more thoughtful about how they use them. The change also aims to crack down on the use of hashtags as a spammable keyword entry point. According to a 2024 Meta post, research conducted by the company showed that past a certain threshold, adding more hashtags did not help reach more users, and it may have had a negative effect on performance.

Benefits of using fewer hashtags

Instagram noted that finding the right hashtags to use on a post helps with reaching users interested in the content and subject. Furthermore, when it comes to reach performance, Instagram found that the ones that perform the best are the hashtags that are most relevant to the content shared. The social network urged creators not to overuse generic, general hashtags such as #reels or #explore that may not be specific enough to the post and may even reduce reach performance.

Recommended hashtags are usually associated with an individual post’s subject matter, interests, and demographic focus. When adding hashtags to a Reel or a post, for instance, it may be strategic to narrow the focus to topic- and niche-specific hashtags that are relevant to the theme. For example, tags on travel videos might be about the location, the activity, or other relevant niches to that topic. The more related to the post the tags are, the more likely they are to have a better impact.

The platform is expected to begin enforcing the update in testing and will officially start it on December 19, 2025. As of writing, there have not been updates on what the platform may or may not allow, including hashtags like a post’s name or copy-pasted Instagram hashtag collections.

Stopping hashtag spam

Meta said its update is part of the platform’s effort to combat hashtag spam. Tag spamming, the practice of adding dozens of irrelevant tags to a post to drive discoverability and reach, has become common on the platform over the years.

The company has taken several steps over the years to crack down on malicious or spammy behaviour on the platform, including keyword spam. These practices, which can clutter up content categorisation and discovery, have become more difficult to filter over time, and have been less useful in discovery as well.

Hashtags on Instagram will not be eliminated altogether, as the company noted that many users continue to search and use them. Instagram also will still allow hashtags for people to connect over common interests, discover new content and interests, and be part of meaningful topic-based conversations.

Future updates to reach

Instagram’s new update would suggest that hashtags, at least for reaching new audiences, are losing some importance on the platform as other factors are put in place and prioritised. Instagram’s head of creator product strategy and policy, Chantelle Vasquez, noted that the platform is still “optimising and simplifying reach” for posts to be found and seen by others on the app.

Tags are part of one discovery strategy, but Instagram is also aware of other factors that may drive content discoverability, such as machine learning, the quality of post and engagement signals, and, as mentioned before, user actions and behaviour. Meta also noted that it may be further refining its reach strategy in the future. As far as reach performance is concerned, the rule of thumb for Instagram posts has changed from visibility to prioritising engagement and quality content.