Hyphens are typically not allowed in hashtags due to a combination of technical, usability, and design considerations. Here's a breakdown of why most social platforms and systems exclude hyphens from hashtags:
- Problem: Hyphens (
-
) can conflict with other uses in text:- In natural language: "Check out #throw-back Thursday!" → Is it
#throw
or#throw-back
? - In code/URLs: Hyphens are often used to separate words (e.g.,
my-project
), which could clash with hashtag parsing.
- In natural language: "Check out #throw-back Thursday!" → Is it
- Solution: Restricting hyphens avoids confusion, ensuring hashtags are unambiguous and self-contained.