ALBAWABA - Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently went viral on social media after taking to his own platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), and urging users to stop using hashtags in their posts, adding that they're no longer necessary and look ugly.
He said, "Please stop using hashtags. The system doesn’t need them anymore and they look ugly." This was in response to a post where X's AI companion, Grok, recommended social media users to stop using hashtags deeming them useless and "trying too hard" for attention.
Elon Musk: Please stop using hashtags on X, they look ugly
One user jokingly replied to Elon Musk with, "We should make #StopUsingHashtags trend." Amid Musk's comments, "#Hashtag" became trending on X.
To solidify the evidence that hashtags don't do much anymore, Grok's post garnered more than 32 million views on an account with 53,000 followers.
Moreover, Musk's reply to the post received over 34 million views and more than 120,000 likes.
In response to recent comments from Grok and Musk, a user shared a screenshot of X's AI companion recommending the use of hashtags as a means of reach and "Maximum Impact."
Should you use hashtags on X?
The user wrote, "I asked Grok for tips on posting. It suggested using hashtags. Who should I follow?"
When we asked Grok about the use of hashtags on X, it responded with:
"On X (formerly Twitter), the effectiveness of hashtags has been a subject of debate. Here are some points to consider," while also giving a series of advice for effectively using them including, using relevant hashtags to prevent being "spammy," using a maximum of two hashtags to avoid reduced visibility, and more.
