Twitter Might Soon Ditch Clickable Hashtags; New Form of Monetization?

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Twitter Might Not Allow Clickable Hashtags

Twitter's hashtags are as ubiquitous as the platform. Being able to click on them has allowed users to follow the trends and gain more information about certain topics. For some reason, Twitter is scaling back this basic functionality. There appears to be an experimental change that removes the link associated with the hashtags.

 

Clickable hashtags have become an extremely convenient way to find tweets related to a specific topic, hunt down some old information, or just chase the latest trend. Hashtags on Twitter allow users to browse content on the micro-blogging network without getting distracted. Nearly every popular social media platform has clickable hashtags.

 

Twitter Removing Ability To Click And Follow A Hashtag

It would be difficult to imagine a tweet without a clickable hashtag but Twitter seems unbothered. Jane Manchun Wong, who regularly posts about experimental features, published a couple of tweets to demonstrate how hashtags might not have a link.

Wong first posted a tweet that contains a single hashtag with no other information. Under normal circumstances, the hashtag would have contained a clickable link. However, the hashtag appears as plain text. In other words, Twitter users cannot click on the hashtag. Attempting to click on the same won't take users to a feed with tweets with the same hashtag.

Why Is Twitter Removing the Popular Feature?

As evident from her tweet, Wong claims the change strips hashtags off their clickable links "unless the tweet contains branded hashtags like #OneTeam and #Periscope that brands pay to add an icon next to hashtags for a while to promote stuff."

Simply put, Twitter could be trying a new technique to monetize content on its platform. The social media network could be restricting the functionality of hashtags and selectively granting access to clickable hashtags only to paying parties.

It is important to note that Twitter hasn't changed the behavior of hashtags across the platform. It could be an experiment in the early stages of testing. Nonetheless, this is a very concerning development. Twitter has already made it impossible to hide the "What's Happening" sidebar of promotional tweets and sponsored hashtags.

Hashtags made Twitter a very powerful platform. These clickable links allow communities to build online movements, inform, entertain, educate, and even inspire internet users. Twitter could risk angering its users if it decides to ditch the feature.

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