Elon Musk Calls Hashtags A ‘Nightmare’, Banning Them From X Ads

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on Thursday that hashtags will soon be banned from advertisements on the social media platform X (previously called Twitter).  
Characterising hashtags as an “(a)esthetic nightmare”, Musk explained that this is a specific change that is targeting ads.

In a post on the micro-blogging site, Musk wrote, “Starting tomorrow, the esthetic nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on 𝕏”, effectively suggesting that the ban will come into effect from Friday, 27th June.

Will the Ban Impact Routine Everyday Posts?

Normal posts on the platform will still be able to include hashtags like before, as the restriction only extends to advertisements, not standard posts.

What Prompted the Hashtags Ban?

While hashtags have, for years, been a key element of social media that allowed users to find content and participate in discussions, Musk has slammed them for making the platform’s appearance ugly.  Describing hashtags as “ugly”, Musk had, in a December 2024 post, urged people to completely avoid using them, as he wrote, “Please stop using hashtags. The system doesn’t need them anymore, and they look ugly.”

While some experts believe that the progress made in Artificial Intelligence has practically made hashtags unnecessary, Musk’s view, reports suggest, is that X’s discovery and search functions—fuelled by the AI chatbot Grok—can now categorise topics and present related content without using hashtags, a move reportedly aimed at the so-called cleaning up of the platform.

Hashtags: From Iconic to ‘(A)esthetic Nightmare’

X (then Twitter) hashtags first gained popularity back in 2007 as a convenient way of starting discussions and monitoring trends. Since late 2022  however, the time when Musk took ownership of the platform, X has seen a number of modifications introduced as measures to bring the site into its current version and to improve user experience.

The latest restriction on hashtags in advertisements appears to be yet another step in that direction.  

How Are the X Users Reacting?

Soon after Musk’s announcement, while some users asked if hashtags would never be seen again, others appeared to be welcoming the change with their posts suggesting that hashtags tend to be “visually unattractive” and are no longer as important due to AI-powered content discovery. Some others lamented losing a “valuable” engagement and “visibility tool” in their ad campaigns.

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