Elon Musk seems to be more intent than ever on turning X, the former Twitter, into an “app of the future.” To achieve the goal, the world’s richest man has decided to eliminate some features that have marked the history of social networks.
The revolution announced by the 53-year-old, in particular, could put an end to the hugely popular hashtags, which were introduced in 2007 to categorize content and make it easier for members to follow and find various trends.
Earlier in the week, Musk himself wrote on the platform: “Please stop using hashtags. The system doesn’t need them anymore and they look ugly”.
However, despite the social network patron’s warning, a great many users tried to make him understand how, even today, hashtags are very useful for searching for content or creators. Some, moreover, did not miss the opportunity to launch the new #StopUsingHashtags, an ironic way to mock Musk.
Some, on the other hand, agreed with what the world’s richest man announced, believing the tag is now an outdated tool, given the presence of algorithms, which direct users to the content they prefer.
Musk also re-shared on his profile the social network’s artificial intelligence account Grok’s post that, in response to a follower, called hashtags “as useful as a screen door on a submarine.”
