Meta has been toiling to make Threads—its Twitter alternative—a viable social media platform, and the launch of features like web experience, keyword search, polls, edit button, and trending topics is a testament to that. What about hashtags, you ask? Well, Meta has been testing them for a few weeks, and they have finally made their way to Threads.
However, the company isn’t officially calling them hashtags. Instead, it refers to them as tags. But that’s not all. Threads’ tags are different from hashtags we’re familiar with on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Meta’s own Instagram in more aspects than just the name. Allow us to explain.
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Tags and Hashtags Are Similar—But Not the Same
Tags are Meta’s version of hashtags. They have the same central idea as hashtags, which is to allow you to get your posts (or threads) in front of other people on the platform who share the same interests. But they aren’t entirely the same and share only a few similarities.
Even though Meta doesn’t refer to its version as hashtags, you still access them by tapping or clicking the # symbol on Threads’s website and mobile apps. Similarly, using tags is just as easy as hashtags, and just like hashtags, you can either use an existing tag on the platform or start a new one if you don’t find a relevant tag.
To add a tag, after you’ve finished composing your post, tap or click the # symbol and start typing your tag text. When Threads returns tags for your search, choose the one you think is the most relevant. If a tag doesn’t exist, Threads will suggest you “tag new topic”. Doing so will launch your tag on the platform, which you and anyone else can use in their posts.
What Separates Tags From Hashtags?
Tags and hashtags share the same central idea. However, there are a few things—aside from using a different name—that Threads does differently, which separates its tags from hashtags on X and Instagram.
Tags Don’t Begin With a # Symbol
Unlike hashtags on X and Instagram, a tag on Threads doesn’t begin with a # symbol. Instead, the platform highlights the tagged word (in blue color) while keeping it clickable to make it easy to identify it in a post. Not only does this integrate the tag well with the post, but it also looks clean.
Your Tag Can Be More Than Just a Word
Another aspect where tags get an edge over hashtags is the tag length. A tag on Threads supports more than one word, so your tag can be multiple words long or even a phrase. What’s more, tags can contain special characters, and you can even add spaces between words in your tags.
Tags Are Meant to Be Used Sparingly
Threads limits the use of tags to only one per post. This means you need to find a tag that’s most relevant to what you’re saying in your post to reach the right audience. Depending on how you see it, this can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Advantage—because it can help fight spam and reduce the influx of misinformation; disadvantage—because people can’t use related tags for a topic, which can limit their reach.
Find and Engage With Content That Interests You on Threads
Tags finally allow you to find and engage with posts related to your interest on Threads. Combined with the ability to search topics, this helps the platform become more in line with its original idea of being a community for people to engage in conversations around topics that interest them.
Whether or not Meta’s approach to tags works, of course, remains to be seen. But, as of now, it looks fine, given the idea with Threads is to foster community conversation and fight spam.
