The battle of funny hashtags on Instagram in 2024
Hashtags are the best way to be discovered on Social Media and especially Instagram. In this post, I looked at the most popular funny hashtags in 2024 compared to 3 years ago (when I first compiled the data) and let them compete against one another. Which hashtag or hashtag groups are the most popular?
When searching for a funny tag on Instagram you can see the number of posts associated with that hashtag. Unfortunately, there’s no way to see how many people follow a certain hashtag.
Based on funny hashtags with more than 1 million posts as of April 2024 I’ve compared some trends. (see the full list below).
Most funniest hashtags in 2024 compared to 2021
| Hashtag | Posts in Million 2021 | Posts in Million 2024 | Change in % |
| #funny | 223 | 256 | 14.8% |
| #lol | 179 | 166 | -7.3% |
| #funnymemes | 73.4 | 79.6 | 8.4% |
| #lmao | 61.3 | 54.2 | -11.6% |
| #funnyvideos | 30.7 | 52.7 | 71.7% |
| #laugh | 39.8 | 41.6 | 4.5% |
| #jokes | 26.9 | 28.5 | 5.9% |
| #hilarious | 24.1 | 21.7 | -10.0% |
| #funnymeme | 15.4 | 18.6 | 20.8% |
| #lmfao | 21.8 | 17.7 | -18.8% |
| #funnyreels | – | 13.5 | New |
| #joke | 13.6 | 13 | -4.4% |
| #funnyshit | 11.3 | 10.7 | -5.3% |
| #funnyvideo | 4.7 | 8.3 | 76.6% |
| #funnypitures | 6.4 | 5.6 | -12.5% |
| #funnyposts | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.7% |
| #funnycat | 3.1 | 4.5 | 45.2% |
| #funnyquotes | 3.4 | 4.2 | 23.5% |
| #funnycats | 2.6 | 4.2 | 61.5% |
| #funnydogs | 2.3 | 4.1 | 78.3% |
| #funnydog | 2.5 | 3.6 | 44.0% |
| #lustig | 2.8 | 3.1 | 10.7% |
| #funnyaf | – | 2.8 | New |
| #funnymoments | – | 2.7 | New |
| #hilariousmemes | 2.7 | 2.6 | -3.7% |
| #funnyanimals | 1.4 | 2.5 | 78.6% |
| #funnypics | – | 2.2 | New |
| #fortnitefunnny | – | 2 | New |
| #funnyjokes | 1.5 | 1.8 | 20.0% |
| #funnyclips | – | 1.8 | New |
| #dadjokes | 1.1 | 1.7 | 54.5% |
| #funnypic | – | 1.5 | New |
| #jokesfordays | 1.3 | 1.4 | 7.7% |
| #funnyvids | 1.1 | 1.3 | 18.2% |
| #funnytweets | 1 | 1.1 | 10.0% |
| #funnyvines | – | 1 | New |
| #funnystuff | – | 1 | New |
All data is based on Instagram’s posts per hashtag.
Some hilarious hashtags haven’t cut the 1 million posts mark yet to be considered in this blog post.
For example, family tags like #funnykids, #funnybaby, #funnymom, or #funnydad are in the upper hundred thousand.
The rise of funny video hashtags on Instagram
Funny hashtags in combination with videos or clips are upwards trending. Especially, the video hashtag for Instagram Reels (#funnyreels) exploded in 2024 compared to 2021.
The most common hashtags for funny videos on Instagram are specifically calling out the video format (e.g. #funnyvideo), but are also part of memes or other hashtags like #funnycats.
Which funny hashtags are most popular?
Insight 1: Plural hashtags have more posts
When analyzing the tags, I’ve found that plural terms are more often used than singular: memes, videos, dogs versus meme, video, and dog, etc.
It makes sense based on the language we use. We look up “jokes” and not a single joke.
Insight 2: Instagram is still an image sharing platform
Even though Instagram recently announced that they are not an image-sharing platform anymore, the content creators speak differently. Funny memes are more popular than funny videos.
I know that gifs could be considered as videos or memes but in fact #funnygif and #funnygifs only have 20k and 25k posts under their belt and therefore weren’t considered in the battle of funny hashtags on Instagram.
Insight 3: The king of funny hashtags is #funny
The hashtag with the most posts in my research was #funny followed by – at least for me surprising – #lol (stands for laughing out loud).
Other tags like #lmao (laugh my ass off) or the even more vulgar #lmfao (you get what the f stands for) have many posts as well.
Insight 4: There are more funny cats than dogs on Instagram
I know why you are really here. The question of all questions: Who is funnier: cats or dogs? The Internet has spoken.
What can social media marketers learn from hashtag volume?
Without the follower numbers of popular hashtags, it’s hard to say what social media marketers can learn from the funny hashtag trends. Usually, more posts also equal more followers but also a higher competition to get your post seen.
It’s recommended to have a good mix of trending hashtags to be discovered. The more related to the content the better. For example, a funny gif meme of a dog could have a wide range of tags. From less crowded funny hashtags like #funnygifs to #funny and #lol to hope for the “going viral effect”.
Instagram content creators should also consider other words and internet language like lmao or lol. This is not just true for the funny hashtag category but for others, too. The best way to find related hashtags is to look at the top posts and spy on their used tags.
Another way is to conduct keyword research and identify long-tail keywords. Of course, search terms are not the same on social media but it can be a good starting point.
Internet sources: instagram.com
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Sascha is a Lifecycle Marketing Consultant with over 8 years of digital marketing experiences in Silicon Valley, the UK, and Germany.
After leading the demand generation for a 100+ million company, he decided to venture out on himself. He’s now helping clients to attract and convert more leads and customers.
His main focus are SEO, paid media & marketing automation – all with the focus to tie marketing campaigns to revenue.
Sascha has been featured in industry publications.