Twitter experiments with Hashtag Algorithms

Twitter will test out non-clickable hashtags for the platform

Ayesha KhanLast Updated: Oct 11, 2022

According to reports, Twitter will test out non-clickable hashtag for the platform, which will block one of its most useful features: using a hashtag to find more tweets about a particular topic.

Clickable hashtags play a small but significant role in how people use Twitter. Using hashtag links to click through additional tweets about specialised and narrow topics is a practical method. Additionally, several well-known social media platforms (like Instagram and TikTok) feature them because they’re so helpful for viewing content.

A screenshot of a test to change how Twitter hashtags function was uploaded by Jane Manchun Wong. He stated that you won’t be able to click on links in hashtags for the following few days.

Twitter is working on an experiment where #hashtags are no longer clickable links

(unless the Tweet contains Branded Hashtags like #OneTeam and #Periscope that brands pay to add an icon next to hashtags for a while to promote stuff)

Not sure what this is for… pic.twitter.com/DdcYyDVaNM

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 10, 2022

Another option to monetize Twitter might be to limit the functionality of hashtags and only permit them to be clickable in the case of paid marketing. But if that’s what Twitter is trying out here, it seems like a strange choice. Twitter’s ability to foster communities, create movements, and keep up with our fellow humans’ messes is in large part due to hashtags.

The hashtag’s creator, Chris Messina, responded to the news with a GIF and the phrase “Not sure what this is for.”