Be aware of banned hashtag # on Instagram

There is a list of banned hashtags # on Instagram that if you use in your copy or comment means that your post will be blocked or restricted. Your content won’t be shown to your audience and it also won’t be searchable.

In this article, I explain how to search for # and also share the list of currently banned # (correct as of January 2022).

Firstly it’s important to explain how hashtags work – a # is a word or a group of words that follow the # symbol (with no space). Hashtags # are used to group topics together on various social media channels. You can use them to search for posts on a particular topic and you can use hashtags on many of the social media platforms – Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, but the scope of this article is about Instagram hashtag #.

You will sometimes see people commenting or adding to their caption that their posts aren’t being seen by their audience. This is usually to do with including a banned # in the caption or comment.

Users will report content that goes against the policy and this can result in a # being added to a banned list – therefore the content won’t appear in your follower’s feed and it won’t appear in discovery either.

So when you are doing your hashtag # research it is really important to understand what a banned # looks like so you don’t use it in your posts.

To search for a hashtag in Instagram:

• Open the app
• Click the search icon (magnifying glass) on the bottom tool bar 
• Type in the # you are looking for e.g. #valentinesday
• A list appears (see screen grab below)
• Click on the one you want

In this example, I used #valentinesday and the below list (or similar) will appear, click on the hashtag # you were searching for:

Once you’ve done your search for the hashtag # – in this example #valentinesday you will see the image below:

The key thing to notice is the wording at the op in the great box. If this appears then thehashtag # you have searched for is on the banned list.

Also not all banned hashtags # are all that obvious and maybe appear iniquitous at first glance, it’s important to understand that it may not be the word or words that are used in thehashtag # but it is the content that has been shared using thathashtag # that has been reported and goes against Instagram’s community guidelines. Here is an example #desk

If you do use # from the banned list you could end up getting your account removed altogether. It’s worth being aware of Instagram’s Community Guidelines so you don’t get your account removed.

Here is the list of banned hashtag # (Correct as at January 2022):

The list does change as hashtag # are added and removed, so it is always worth checking.

Maz’s Tip: If you find that a hashtag # you have used has been banned you can always go back and edit your post to remove the #. If you are adding your hashtags in comments you can’t edit them.

I have also written another blog about hashtags # – Four tips on how to use hashtags holidays in your social media content, find that blog here.

As we are approaching Valentines Day I felt it was appropriate to write this blog so that you don’t get caught out with your content being hidden. An alternative would be #ValentinesDay2022. Thanks for reading.

Please do share your thoughts in the comments.

^{_{By Marianne Avery}}

Marianne is a customer experience professional, a die-hard customer champion, and social media manager who helps businesses to drive culture and customer experience change as well as navigate the world of social media. To find out more about how Marianne and Flint Change can help you click here.