Instagram Updates Hashtag Search To Broaden Discovery
Instagram has made a change to the way that hashtags facilitate discovery in the app, with users now connected through to the broader search results related to a hashtag when they tap on it, as opposed to a âTop Postsâ feed.
As you can see in this example, now, when you tap on a hashtag (in this case â#makeupâ), youâll see the full search results for that topic, as you would see in explore.
Which is a change from the âTop Postsâ display like this, which is what Instagram shows you when you tap into a tag at present:
As you can see here, you can still follow a topic via the tag page, but you donât have the full results (e.g. Accounts, Audio, Places, Reels) that you would get via a similar search in Explore.
By providing access to these additional elements, Instagramâs hoping to improve profile discovery, as opposed to only highlighting content. Itâll also, ideally, expand user search behaviors, by linking them through to the various elements.
So itâs not a radical change, but a logical one, as the Explore overview enables users to dig into different elements, instead of being confined to the top posts feed.
It could also put more emphasis on ensuring that your target keywords are included in your profile, in order to maximize discovery in the âAccountsâ display. The profiles shown within a hashtag search donât necessarily include that hashtag in their every post and update, but they do generally have the actual word in their profile name and/or description.
And with Reels continuing to gain traction, you can imagine that many searchers will also be happy that they can now more easily switch over to the dedicated Reels display for any topic.
Thereâs a range of ways in which this is an improvement, and itâll help to broaden discovery within the app.
Now we just need IG to let you sort the result by date posted again, and weâll be all good.
