Why X aka Twitter Wants To End Hashtags

Am I the only one who has a hard time saying X instead of Twitter?

Twitter was such a cute name with an equally cute blue bird logo, originally designed by Simon Oxley and updated in 2012 by Martin Grasser.

The bird logo, named Larry after basketball great Larry Bird, was supposed to represent simplicity and freedom of speech as well as a bird's ability to fly upward, representing limitless possibilities.

Even though I'm not into politics on social media, I recognized that the previous owners didn't adhere to the ideals espoused by the Twitter logo. It seems too many people think freedom of speech is allowed only if it reflects their own opinions and world view.

ALONG CAME ELON

Then Elon Musk bought Twitter, changed the name to X, representing the goal of being an "everything" app, and changed the logo to rebrand it and bring it under the identity of his other companies' branding.

A new logo, a white stylized "X" on a black background by Engineer Alex Tourville, originally created for X Pod, a podcast hosted by Sawyer Merritt, a co-founder of a clothing company, was selected by Musk.

Merritt made the suggestion, citing Tourville as the creator who used the Unicode character 𝕏 (U+1D54F) to create it, and Musk began using it immediately because he liked the minimalist art deco style.

I understand the X logo and the reason for using it, but I miss the happy name of Twitter and the cute little blue bird named Larry.

DEATH TO HASHTAGS

A lot of people are now upset because X suggests users stop cluttering their tweets—I guess I should say posts—with hashtags. My first thought was, "How can a post find a receptive audience without umpteen hashtags shouting, "Here I am. Come read me!"

Even though they are not officially ending hashtags, they say those little symbols are less necessary now due to advancements in their algorithm. I did a little research about this.

The reason makes perfectly good sense. The X algorithm is more sophisticated at understanding content so it can identify relevant topics and conversations without relying heavily on hashtags.

That's why some users and experts suggest hashtags be used less frequently and more strategically because excessive hashtags can be seen as spammy and actually reduce your post's reach.

The emphasis is on creating quality content that naturally attracts an audience rather than relying on hashtags.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If you want to improve your user experience on X, try these new suggestions rather than rely on hashtags to reach an audience.

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