Hashtags on Facebook: Should You Use Them?

13
Aug 2020

Some Facebook users, especially those running a business page, have noticed something different popping up in their composer window lately. Highlighted prompts recommending the addition of hashtags are now appearing on some users’ screens. The prompt asks the administrator to consider adding a hashtag to their post in order to help it reach a larger audience. While this pop-up is something new, the use of hashtags on Facebook is not.

Historically, Facebook users have not always had the option to use hashtags. In fact, the social media giant didn’t give Facebook fans that option until 2013 after hashtags gained momentum on Twitter. But despite adding the new feature at the time, very few people actually took advantage of them.

According to a study conducted by BuzzSumo in 2016, which analyzed more than a billion Facebook posts from over 30 million brand Pages, posts without hashtags actually saw more reach, on average, than those with tags added.

Now, on the heels of the Facebook ad boycott campaign “Stop Hate for Profit,” the social media company seems to be promoting the use of hashtags once again, especially for posts supporting small businesses during the COVD-19 pandemic. 

Facebook also released their Summer of Support educational series and recently their National Black Business Month awareness programs as part of an ongoing effort to educate and support their users and their communities.

Some experts say Facebook is looking to align with the TikTok-style usage of hashtags for certain trends.

Every 60 seconds there are 317,000 status updates, 400 new users, 147,000 photos uploaded, and 54,000 shared links on Facebook.

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