A lot of studies show that Instagram hashtags do not have a significant impact on post engagement. Because of that, Instagram removed the Recent tab as users can now find newer content in the Top tab. With these changes, Instagram hopes hashtags will have more value to the users, which is impact to the increasing of engagement levels.

We are trying out some new things to make hashtags as valuable as possible for people. A few weeks ago, we rolled out Destinations which helps connect people to more information around social causes, and now, we are going to try something new.

For a small group, we’re testing more recent and timely content in Top and Reels tabs in hashtags, and removing the Recent tab. We want to see if this helps people connect with more interesting and relevant content on hashtags, while also keeping them across what’s current.

With Recent tab, you could find the most recent and quality content when searching with a hashtag.

The purpose of hashtags on Instagram

The purpose of hashtags are made on Instagram is to categorize content. There has never been any claims from the company about hashtags could increasing post views. But when you stopped using hashtags, your target audiences will not get any notification and not be able to revisit your content.