Buzz
Capitalize the First Letter of Every Word in the Hashtag
Hashtags weren’t originally created to be user-friendly. They serve as a means of organizing content on the web, promoting brands, or even creating humorous moments. But when you push words together without spaces or punctuation, you’re creating a hashtag that can be nearly impossible to read or understand.
If you feel compelled to create a lengthy hashtag, ensure each word starts with a capital letter. For example, #comeforlivemusicstayforbeer becomes far more legible when written as #ComeForLiveMusicStayForBeer. As The Bureau of Internet Accessibility highlights, people who rely on screen readers—software designed to assist visually impaired users with reading on-screen text—and individuals with dyslexia, will find this simple adjustment significantly easier to navigate.
If your hashtags are crammed together like an endless, awkward word mashup, it will confuse screen reading programs, causing them to read your hashtag as a single word—essentially, nonsense. The same goes for those with dyslexia. Capitalizing each word makes your hashtags more readable for everyone who comes across your post.
Leave spaces between hashtags when using multiple ones.
It’s hard to believe, but even in 2021, there are still a few folks who can’t resist jamming multiple hashtags together without spaces. Take a moment to resist the urge and avoid this hashtag disaster:
#instafun#instagood#regram#sundayfunday#brunch#besties.
Instead, if you absolutely must flood social media with hashtags like the one above, separate them properly like this:
#InstaVibes #GoodTimes #ReShare #WeekendFun #BrunchBuddies #BestiesForever
Without proper spacing, your hashtag will turn into a long, unreadable string that leads to nowhere. Clicking on it will send users to a 404 error page. You definitely want to avoid that, right?
Don’t overdo the hashtags.
In the early days of Instagram (remember 2012 or 2013?), people were often a bit too eager with their hashtag use. Back then, it was an exciting and new way to show you understood the digital language. Nowadays, hashtags have become like wallpaper—just part of the background with no real impact.
So, avoid flooding your posts with excessive hashtags. Social media thrives on subtlety, and the top influencers and brands who know how to use hashtags wisely demonstrate restraint. If you’re promoting a brand or cause, stick to just two or three hashtags in the body of your post. For a wider reach, consider adding hashtags in the comments section, keeping the main post neat and clean.
