Los Angeles, CA: TikTok appears to have put in place a new rule that limits posts to a maximum of five hashtags. The change, which seems to be a quiet update rather than an official statement, has made content creators quite angry and worried that it would hurt their ability to be found, get views, and get others to interact with their material.
Hashtags are very important for authors because they help their material reach a wider audience than just their direct followers. The American Marketing Association says that hashtags “can significantly boost your post’s visibility by making it discoverable to a wider audience… This can lead to higher engagement rates.” They also help develop and grow online communities by bringing people with similar interests together.
But the new limit has made some angry enough to post about it on social media sites like X and Reddit. “Just posted an edit on TikTok and then saw there was a 5 hashtag limit,” said one user on X. What is this? We small editors will never get bigger. Another person just posted, “I hate this new tiktok 5 hashtag update so much…”
Reddit is also angry, and creators are talking about what can happen next. One person said they were worried about how it will affect their business, which they use TikTok to promote. “I utilize hashtags for my neighborhood, city, state, job, specialty, and the brands I use. Isn’t that enough to sue someone or something? If their recent upgrades hurt my income a lot and I can prove it?
Another user talked about a time when their reach dropped dramatically. They said, “I’ve seen a huge drop in reach and views when the hashtag was limited. My niche is behind-the-scenes drone shots of weddings. My normal views reach 50,000 to 100,000, and some reach millions, but this time I could barely get past 1,000 views.” The user also said that their videos were “invisible on my profile from other accounts or if I’m logged out,” which suggests that the algorithm has a bigger problem.
TikTok hasn’t given an official reason for the new restriction, but content creators are trying to figure out how to change their techniques to keep getting views and growing their audiences on the platform. The adjustment has brought to light how much many producers depend on hashtags for their income and how worried they are about the platform’s unexpected changes to its algorithms.