The Rise and Fall of LinkedIn Hashtags: What Changed in 2025
Welcome to a special edition of our LinkedIn Mastery Series. While our previous guides on LinkedIn profile optimization, LinkedIn headlines, and personal branding remain evergreen, today we're addressing a major shift that's left many professionals confused and frustrated.
If you've recently tried to follow hashtags on LinkedIn and found yourself staring at a blank screen, or if your hashtag strategy suddenly stopped working, you're not alone. LinkedIn has quietly changed how content discovery works on its platform, and most users are still operating with outdated information.
This comprehensive analysis will help you understand what changed, why it happened, and most importantly, what you should do instead to maintain your professional visibility in 2025.
The age of LinkedIn hashtags (2018-2024)
For over six years, LinkedIn hashtags were a cornerstone of content strategy. When LinkedIn officially introduced hashtags in 2018, they made a shift in the strategy for how professionals discovered and organized content on the platform.
These hashtags functioned as content categorizers that helped organize posts by topic, discovery tools that connected users with relevant conversations, community builders that created spaces around shared professional interests, and reach amplifiers that could extend content visibility beyond direct connections.
Users could follow up to 100 hashtags, and these followed hashtags would appear in their feeds alongside content from their connections.
Popular hashtags like #Innovation, #DigitalMarketing, and #Leadership attracted millions of followers, creating massive professional communities around specific topics.
LinkedIn heavily promoted hashtags as a way to increase post visibility, connect with industry conversations, build thought leadership within niche communities, and enhance content discoverability through the LinkedIn algorithm.
However, even during their peak, LinkedIn hashtags had significant limitations. Posts from followed hashtags appeared sporadically in feeds, often in unexpected bursts rather than steady streams.
Unlike Instagram or Twitter, hashtags on LinkedIn didn't consistently translate to increased visibility, and the platform always prioritized posts that generated meaningful conversations over heavily tagged content.
Despite these limitations, hashtags remained a recommended best practice for LinkedIn content strategy through 2024.
The LinkedIn hashtag discontinuation of 2025
In late 2024 and early 2025, LinkedIn made several quiet but significant changes that effectively ended the hashtag era.
The platform completely discontinued the ability to follow hashtags, removed hashtags from dropdown search suggestions, eliminated the "Talks About" section in Creator Mode that helped users get discovered through specific hashtags, and made hashtag pages much harder to find in search results.
These changes have left many professionals confused and frustrated. Content creators who built strategies around hashtag communities suddenly lost their primary discovery mechanism, and users who relied on followed hashtags for industry news found their feeds significantly less relevant.
Professionals who invested time in hashtag research discovered their efforts were no longer effective. The changes were implemented without major announcements, leaving many users wondering if they were experiencing technical issues rather than intentional platform modifications.
Why LinkedIn made these changes
LinkedIn's motivation reflects a broader shift toward AI-powered content recommendations. Rather than relying on user-selected hashtags, the platform now uses AI systems that analyze the actual text and context of posts to determine relevance.
It considers viewing history and engagement patterns and emphasizes traditional SEO principles, where keywords matter more than hashtag symbols.
This change is not unique to LinkedIn. X (formerly Twitter) actively discourages hashtag use under Elon Musk's leadership, Instagram has reduced hashtag importance in favor of content quality, and TikTok relies more on AI-driven content discovery than hashtag following.
LinkedIn is also addressing the problem of hashtags being used to "game" the algorithm through tactics like using maximum hashtag limits regardless of relevance, creating branded hashtags solely to increase follower visibility, and recycling hashtags across unrelated content.
By removing hashtag-based discovery, LinkedIn can focus on rewarding genuinely valuable content rather than optimized tagging strategies while streamlining the professional experience by reducing complexity and emphasizing expertise-based recommendations over topic following.
What works now
While hashtags have lost their discovery power, keyword optimization has become crucial.
Instead of focusing on hashtag symbols, professionals should optimize their content with relevant industry terms used naturally throughout posts, include keywords in their LinkedIn headline that reflect their expertise, incorporate searchable terms in their profile summary, and utilize the skills section, which LinkedIn now treats as searchable keywords.
The LinkedIn algorithm now prioritizes meaningful conversations through posts that generate thoughtful comments and discussions, value-driven content that helps professionals solve problems or learn something new, and authentic engagement rather than hashtag-driven reach.
For businesses, LinkedIn has replaced hashtag strategies with "Specialisms," where company pages can add up to 20 specialisms that function like searchable keywords, helping businesses appear in relevant searches without using hashtag symbols.
To find this feature, go to your company page and click on “Edit page”.
Now click on the “details” section and scroll down to “specialties”. Add your targeted keywords here.
Personal branding now requires consistently sharing expertise through valuable content, engaging authentically with industry conversations, leveraging LinkedIn newsletters to establish thought leadership, and implementing personal branding strategies that don't rely on hashtag discovery.
Adapting your LinkedIn strategy for 2025
Content creators should stop researching popular hashtags and instead research relevant keywords and industry terms, and focus on compelling storytelling since the algorithm emphasizes engagement.
It focuses on building genuine communities through valuable content and meaningful interactions, and optimizes for search by using industry keywords naturally in content.
Businesses need to update company specialisms with keyword-rich descriptions, invest in content quality since hashtag reach is diminished, encourage employee advocacy by helping team members optimize profiles for keyword discovery, and track different metrics focusing on engagement quality and keyword-driven traffic rather than hashtag reach.
Job seekers should optimize their LinkedIn profiles with relevant keywords that recruiters search for, demonstrate knowledge through valuable content, network strategically based on shared interests and expertise, and stay active in relevant conversations to maintain visibility without depending on hashtag discovery.
Should you still use hashtags at all?
While hashtags have lost their discovery power, they still serve limited purposes for content organization, helping categorize your own content for tracking themes and campaigns over time.
They can be useful for branded campaigns or events to track related content, even if they don't boost discovery.
If you choose to use hashtags, follow these updated guidelines: use 1-2 relevant hashtags maximum, focus on very specific niche hashtags rather than popular ones, ensure hashtags directly relate to your content, and never use hashtags as your primary discovery strategy.
The future of LinkedIn content discovery
Based on current trends, LinkedIn is moving toward enhanced AI recommendations based on professional history, engagement patterns, industry expertise, and content consumption behavior.
The platform is likely to enhance skills-based discovery while continuing to prioritize authentic professional conversations, value-driven content, genuine expertise demonstration, and meaningful professional connections.
Expect tighter integration between LinkedIn Learning and content recommendations, professional events and relevant content, company pages and employee advocacy, and job listings and industry content.
Making the transition
To adapt to LinkedIn's evolution, start by auditing your current content strategy to see if you're over-relying on hashtags for reach, update your LinkedIn headline with relevant keywords, revise your profile summary to incorporate searchable industry terms, and review your skills section to ensure it reflects current expertise.
This month, shift your content focus to prioritize valuable, engaging content over hashtag optimization, engage more meaningfully with quality interactions, research keywords your audience searches for instead of popular hashtags, and test new approaches with keyword-rich content while measuring engagement.
Over the next quarter, develop consistent thought leadership through valuable content, build authentic professional relationships, optimize all profile elements for search with relevant keywords, and monitor LinkedIn's evolving recommendation systems.
Wrapping up
The discontinuation of LinkedIn hashtags signals a fundamental shift toward quality-focused, AI-driven professional networking. While this transition may initially feel disruptive, it ultimately benefits professionals who focus on genuine value creation and authentic relationship building.
The professionals who adapt quickly to these changes will find themselves ahead of competitors who are still trying to make outdated hashtag strategies work. The future of LinkedIn belongs to those who understand that sustainable professional success comes from genuine expertise and authentic connections, not algorithmic optimization.
This analysis is part of our LinkedIn Mastery Series. As LinkedIn continues to evolve, we'll keep you updated on the latest changes and strategies. And there is some good news if you want to remain ahead of the curve of professional networking, FinalLayer is going to help you in that.
FinalLayer helps you to be consistent and updated in the world of LinkedIn. It helps you write posts in your unique style with integrating video clip. It makes the LinkedIn post making that much easy so you start enjoying the process rather than feeling the burden of posting.
To experience FinalLayer, visit finalLayer.com, connect your LinkedIn profile, and get topic suggestions or posts written in your unique style.
FAQs
Can I still follow hashtags on LinkedIn in 2025?
No, LinkedIn removed the ability to follow hashtags in late 2024/early 2025. Users can no longer click "Follow" on hashtag pages or receive hashtag-based content in their feeds.
Do hashtags still help with reach on LinkedIn?
Hashtags no longer boost reach or discovery on LinkedIn. The platform now prioritizes content quality, engagement, and keyword optimization over hashtag usage.
Should I completely stop using hashtags on LinkedIn?
While hashtags don't boost discovery anymore, you can still use 1-2 relevant hashtags for content organization and tracking. Focus on keywords instead for visibility.
What should I do instead of hashtag research?
Research relevant industry keywords and terms that your audience searches for. Incorporate these naturally into your content, profile, and headlines for better discoverability.
How do I find trending topics without following hashtags?
Use LinkedIn's search function with industry keywords, engage with thought leaders in your field, and monitor your network's conversations to stay updated on trends.
What are LinkedIn's specialisms and how do they work?
Specialisms are keyword-rich descriptions that company pages can add (up to 20) to help appear in relevant searches. They function like searchable keywords without hashtag symbols.
Will LinkedIn bring hashtag following back?
Based on current trends toward AI-driven recommendations and the platform's focus on content quality, it's unlikely that hashtag following will return in its previous form.
