Instagram Bans Hashtags
I had no idea Instagram was doing this, but apparently they've been blocking hashtags. This isn't even a new feat, they've done this for a while according to a Huffington Post article I read that was posted back in October of 2013, but other sources had written about this way back in August of 2013. So just today I finally found out why my posting from yesterday kept messing up and not allowing me to delete my hashtags from it. The cause: #sexy. Apparently they re-blocked this hashtag from usage. The picture I posted was totally innocuous, but other postings that were tagged with this hashtag probably weren't, possibly one reason why they once again blocked this hashtag. Rephrasing a fellow Instagrammer whom I follow, @mandarinfox, 'banning a hashtag universally is just plain dumb.'
The only other reason I can think of for why Instagram decides to ban a tag is to potentially cut back on their servers? Like how on Twitter, Bieber postings take up majority of its realm (or at least used to), which then results in crashing or lagging? So I guess in an attempt to prevent this they just blocked a bunch of hashtags that were generating too many results. Hopefully this is just a temporary thing, again, because banning hashtags like #iphone and #photography is just ridiculous. This is a photo app for iPhones. They even banned #IG, Instagram's own abbreviation. I'm pretty sure they even blocked #instagram at some point. Like come on now.
The annoying part about these blocked hashtags is the fact that if you have just one of these banned hashtags in your hashtag paragraph, that many people like to use these days to get likes and followers, then that photo of yours won't appear in any of the other hashtags. Your picture will only be visible to your followers and yourself, that's it (apparently). So be mindful in the future when plopping your saved hashtag paragraphs because that lovely photo that you took the time to take, crop, and edit won't be showing up to anyone but yourself and your two followers.
If you would like to see a list of other blocked hashtags on Instagram, check out this list here that Nick Drewe from The Data Pack so kindly compiled for us.
And don't forget to follow me on Instagram! @funtoo2 :)
The only other reason I can think of for why Instagram decides to ban a tag is to potentially cut back on their servers? Like how on Twitter, Bieber postings take up majority of its realm (or at least used to), which then results in crashing or lagging? So I guess in an attempt to prevent this they just blocked a bunch of hashtags that were generating too many results. Hopefully this is just a temporary thing, again, because banning hashtags like #iphone and #photography is just ridiculous. This is a photo app for iPhones. They even banned #IG, Instagram's own abbreviation. I'm pretty sure they even blocked #instagram at some point. Like come on now.
The annoying part about these blocked hashtags is the fact that if you have just one of these banned hashtags in your hashtag paragraph, that many people like to use these days to get likes and followers, then that photo of yours won't appear in any of the other hashtags. Your picture will only be visible to your followers and yourself, that's it (apparently). So be mindful in the future when plopping your saved hashtag paragraphs because that lovely photo that you took the time to take, crop, and edit won't be showing up to anyone but yourself and your two followers.
If you would like to see a list of other blocked hashtags on Instagram, check out this list here that Nick Drewe from The Data Pack so kindly compiled for us.
And don't forget to follow me on Instagram! @funtoo2 :)
Comments
Post a Comment
No profanity, please.