Elon Musk has announced that hashtags will no longer be allowed in advertisements on X, describing them as an “esthetic nightmare” in a post shared on Thursday. The move marks the latest in a series of steps aimed at distancing the platform from traditional social media conventions.
“Starting tomorrow, the esthetic nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on 𝕏 (sic),” Musk wrote, reaffirming his stance that hashtags disrupt visual clarity and are no longer necessary in the modern digital landscape.
This isn’t the first time Musk has criticized the use of hashtags. Back in December 2024, he encouraged users to abandon them entirely, labeling them as outdated and visually unappealing. “The system doesn’t need them anymore, and they look ugly,” he stated, suggesting that the platform’s evolving AI capabilities could eliminate the need for traditional tagging mechanisms.
According to Musk, X’s discovery and search features—now powered by Grok, the AI chatbot developed by his company xAI—can intelligently categorize and surface content without relying on hashtags. He believes this transition will result in a cleaner, more streamlined experience for both advertisers and users.
Hashtags, first popularized by Twitter in 2007, have long been a fundamental tool for grouping conversations and tracking trends across social media. However, under Musk’s leadership, X continues to redefine its identity, shedding long-standing norms in favor of a more AI-driven, minimalist approach.
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