How to Make Your Hashtags Easier to Read
Communication in the language of hashtags is an annoyingly universal aspect of social media. But if you use hashtags in your Instagram posts, tweets, or Facebook status updates, you need to make sure they are readable by people with visual and cognitive impairments.
Capitalize the first letter in every word
Hashtags are not meant to be easy to read. Basically, it is a tool for cataloging online content, marketing or jokes. But when you create a monstrous hashtag by squeezing words together without spaces or punctuation marks, you create something that is impossible to decipher.
If you really feel the need to create a long hashtag, capitalize the first letter of each word. A hashtag like #comeforlivemusicstayforbeer is easier to read when written as #ComeForLiveMusicStayForBeer. As the Bureau of the availability of the Internet , people who require readers with screen – programs that help visually impaired users to read text on the screen – and those who suffer from dyslexia will benefit from this simple solution.
If your hashtags are smashed together like some verbose wallet, it is likely to confuse your screen reader so that it reads your hashtag as a single word – in other words, gibberish. The same goes for people with dyslexia. Capitalizing each word makes your tags more readable for anyone who comes across your post.
Use spaces if you are using multiple hashtags
I can’t believe I should write this, but even in 2021, there are still a few strangers who tend to confuse multiple hashtags with no spaces. For example, refrain from all possible impulses to post something like this disaster:
# instafun # instagood # regram # sundayfunday # brunch # besties.
Instead, if you have to litter social media with meaningless hashtags like the example above, write them down like this:
#InstaFun #InstaGood #ReGram #SundayFunday #Brunch #Besties
If you don’t use spaces, your hashtag will essentially become one giant hashtag romance that doesn’t really lead anywhere. Clicking on it will essentially take the user to a 404 page. You really don’t want this to happen, do you?
Do not overdo it
Probably in the nascent days of Instagram (2012 or 2013, anyone?), Users were a little happy with their tags. At that time, it was a new and interesting way to demonstrate understanding of digital language. Now, however, they are essentially the equivalent of the wallpaper that graces the walls of your social media experience – they’re unremarkable.
So don’t think of your post with a hashtag after the hashtag. It’s better to show taste on social media, and influencers and brands who use it in a less annoying way than others consistently show restraint with their tags. If you are using hashtags to promote a brand or other initiative, perhaps only use two or three in the body of your post. If you want your post to be available for various tags on Instagram, you can always add them in the comments to your post so that the main copy doesn’t look so cluttered.