Instagram Expands Banned Hashtag List: Goodbye #notassexyliciousasyou

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In an ongoing effort to control the squirming beast that is social media, Instagram recently updated its service to ban even more hashtags.

Along with the expected attempts to make it just the teeniest little bit harder to find inappropriate content, the behind-the-scenes update also nixes hashtags it deems “unsearchable” because they are too generic and produce an unmanageable number of hits. Among these:

  • #photography
  • #iphone
  • #iphoneography
  • #instagram
  • #popular

Lots_of_Hash_(5941302441)

In the “Maybe They’re Trying a Little Too Hard” category, Instagram has also banned references to:

  • old school punk (#thesexpistols)
  • gustatory pleasure (#foodorgasm)
  • portrait posing (#iloveitwhenhemakesthisexpression).

And from the department of “Who Knew This Was Even a Thing?”, we’ll never know what kind of momentary phenomena might have coalesced around:

  •  #notassexylicousasyou
  •  #SexualWednesdays
  • #bitchcanigetacosmo

One more hashtag change of note: Hashtags per photo now are limited to a miserly 600, so make your words count!

(via hashtags.org)


P.S. Australian entrepreneur Nick Drewe has compiled an unofficial list of banned Instagram hashtags.


Image credits: “#like2” by misspixels, “Lots of Hash” by Michael Coghlan

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