“Tags work a little differently than hashtags do on platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). When composing a Threads post, you start a tag by tapping the # symbol and then typing out your topic. But instead of being limited to just one word, you can type out a whole phrase (with spaces!) and add special characters, according to Mosseri. However, you can only make one tag per post.”
I wonder how the tags will work if they federate with ActivityPub.
Tags are a workaround for bad search systems. They’ve been a solution looking for a problem since platforms started getting better at search.
Imho, Mastodon should be using hashtags like subreddits/lemmy-communities (they have moderators who can control what gets posted under that hashtag) then they’d have a real reason to exist on that platform now that they’ve got proper search, especially since a F/OSS platform like Mastodon has difficulty with moderating.
I use hashtags on Mastodon all the time. They’re definitely useful and easier than subcommunities.