Starting Friday, hashtags will no longer be allowed in advertisements on X, according to platform owner Elon Musk. The change applies specifically to paid promotional content, while regular posts on the platform can continue using hashtags. “Starting tomorrow, the esthetic nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on X,” Musk said in a post on Thursday.

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The decision is part of Musk’s broader effort to streamline the visual experience on X, particularly for brand communication. The move draws a line between user content and paid advertising on the platform, with the latter expected to follow a cleaner design standard.

Hashtags have been a core feature of the platform since 2007, when it was known as Twitter. They helped users track trends and group conversations, becoming a staple across social media platforms.

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Musk, however, has expressed distaste for hashtags in the past. In December 2024, he called them “ugly” and unnecessary, arguing that X’s AI tools, including the Grok chatbot built by xAI, are capable of understanding and surfacing content without the need for hashtags. “Please stop using hashtags. The system doesn’t need them anymore, and they look ugly,” he said in a response to a post at the time.