Facebook Depreciates Hashtag Topics in Groups

In a move that signals the company’s waning interest in hashtags, Facebook has announced that hashtag topics in Groups will be deprecated in the coming months. The decision comes less than two years after Facebook initially added the feature and could signal a wider move away from the company’s occasionally tentative relationship with hashtags.

Group admins had been able to categorize different discussions in the app by adding hashtags, although this feature was not widely adopted. Facebook’s latest explanation is that admins won’t be able to add hashtags to other people’s posts or manage the list of group hashtags, while anyone can still add hashtags to their own group posts.

Nevertheless, it’s unclear as to whether hashtags are of real value on Facebook, particularly given the privacy restrictions, reach limits, and other factors that come into play. No definitive evidence suggests hashtags drive any reach boost in the app, and how effective they are will vary from group to group.

The deprecation of hashtag topics in groups is just the latest in Facebook’s on-again, off-again relationship with hashtags. While hashtags have always been commonplace on Twitter and Instagram, they’ve never gained the same traction on Facebook. This appears to be due to inconsistent user application, leading to an unreliable option.

In conclusion, starting from April 3rd, admins will no longer be able to add topics to someone else’s group post, and from May 3rd, it will no longer be possible to download topics that have been added to other people’s group posts. As such, hashtags appear to be seemingly losing their power within Facebook, and marketers should experiment to determine how effective they are for their own audience.