Is your Instagram Shadowbanned? Everyone on the social platforms wants to increase their followers. When you try this on Instagram, you are dependent on the hashtag pages and explore to expand the reach of your audience, but when you know that the content you are posting is not showing up anywhere, it will be disheartening for you.
You are continuously posting on Instagram but still getting fewer likes and comments, so you have fewer engagements. Furthermore, your account is not appearing for specific hashtags, or you might be shadow banned on the explore pages.
What is an Instagram Shadowbanned?
An Instagram shadowban refers to the platform limiting your content and restricting its visibility. The content you are posting is only visible to your followers, so it could not get more engagements because of its invisibility to others. Your hashtag content is not appearing on the explore pages to anyone but your followers.
Instagram shadow ban is an act that restates the content of the users without informing the user about what is happening to their content. This mostly happens to the users who have violated the rules of Instagram or sometimes due to inappropriate content.
This is becoming frustrating for the users, especially those who have personal accounts, business accounts, and creator accounts that are getting their growth.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri answered two questions related to the shadow ban.
Q1: Shadow banning is not a thing.
“Shadow banning is not a thing. If someone follows you on Instagram, your photos and videos can show up in their feed if they keep using the feed. Being in Explore is not guaranteed for anyone. Sometimes you’ll get lucky, sometimes you won’t. “Adam Mosseri
Why I don’t see my post under the hashtag?
“Some people don’t realize this, but we don’t show every post with a hashtag under that hashtag. We try to show people the ones they might be the most interested in. This is to try and keep hashtag pages interesting but also to avoid spam and abuse. “Adam Mosseri
In 2021, Mosseri said, “we haven’t always done enough to explain why we take down content when we do, what is recommendable and what isn’t, and how Instagram works more broadly.”
“Shadow ban is a term that Instagram doesn’t use. They’ve never used it, they’ve always denied it was a thing. It doesn’t mean that the things included in the shadowban label are not happening. “Carolina Hadas
What does Instagram say about the shadow banning?
The Instagram team claimed that Shadow banning is not actual, and Instagram is not hiding any content from the users. After some time, Instagram recognized that only inappropriate posts are categorized for our international community.
Let’s look first at their parent company, Facebook remove, reduce and inform strategy (active since 2016)
“This involves removing content that violates our policies, reducing the spread of problematic content that does not violate our policies, and informing people with additional information so they can choose what to click, read or share.” – Tessa Lyons + Guy Rosen, Facebook.
“We’ve started touse machine learning to determine if the actual media posted is eligible to be recommended to our community.” Will Ruben, Instagram Discovery Product Lead
Mosseri shared some steps to improve the user’s experience that are as follows:
- We are reviewing how content is filtered on hashtags and exploring pages
- Profoundly diving into algorithmic bias and how it is going to affect the Instagram product
- Releasing more information about what type of content should or should not be shared on Instagram.
How to check if you have been shadowbanned?
Instagram does not inform you if you are shadow banned. You have to check it by yourself. There are a few steps to follow to check if you are shadowbanned:
1. Test your posts
Post new content with a popular hashtag. Have a few people who do not follow you. Just test content under the hashtag to know if your post shows up. If you are not getting likes and comments, you are shadowbanned.
2. Check your hashtags
Instagram has hidden some controversial hashtags, and Instagram has verified it. If you receive a message under that hashtags, it means you might have used one of these hashtags.
3. Review your Instagram insight data
If you are unexpectedly seeing a massive impression engagement outside of your follower base, there is an excellent chance to have been shadowbanned.
What Causing Instagram shadow banning and how to avoid one
There are some potential reasons your account could have been shadowbanned.
- You use bots or another automated “Instagram growth tool.
- You use broken hashtags
- Your account is often reported
- You have been posting, commenting, or following the people too quickly.
1. Using bots or another automated “Instagram growth tool.
To increase the number of followers, you have to work hard. Without y hard work you can’t get a famous reach. Instagram glares at it; they encourage users to enhance their engagements with the right audience for accounts. The use of bots is a spammy tactic that could lead to shadowban.
2. Broken hashtags.
Instagram has hidden some inappropriate hashtags, and Instagram has verified it. Don’t use these hashtags; otherwise, your account will be blocked. If you receive a message under that hashtags, it means you might have used one of these hashtags.
3. Your account is often reported.
If an account is reported repeatedly, Instagram will assume this account is posting inappropriate content or violating the terms and regulations. Instagram will disable your account, or you will get shadowbanned.
4. You have been posting, commenting, or following the people too quickly
Instagram is here to notice your every move on the account. If you often like, follow, comment, or share a post in an hour or a day, this makes sense, but if you are following 80 people within an hour, it will be suspicious that a bot is doing this instead of you.
You can get more followers by doing this, but it can’t help you to engage with the right people. This behavior results in shadowban.
How to avoid Instagram being shadowbanned?
Shadowban is an act that happens without notifying the user, and no one is exactly sure how long it harms your account. Some users said it would take about two weeks, but others said it could last a long time.
Here are some steps by keeping in mind you can avoid the shadowban:
- Stop any activity that goes against the terms of service
- Don’t act like a Bot
- Avoid getting reported
- Take a break from Instagram
- Avoid using banned hashtags
1. Stop any activity that goes against the terms of service
Please don’t break the rules set by Instagram. And everyone is trying to enhance their engagement so that their account will be reachable and work hard for it. Don’t use cheap tactics to follow, like, and comment. Also, avoid using bot activity or any automated engagement that will lead to shadowban. So it is better to do it safely.
2. Don’t act like a Bot.
Don’t post frequently. Give space while posting, commenting, and frequently liking. It will pretend there is a bot handling this instead of you, set a time for your post, and post often but not too much that it looks like a bot. Same for the following and unfollowing. Don’t do this frequently.
Instagram found this unusual engagement rate, and it will prevent your engagement. You will be blocked or shadowban by Instagram.
3. Avoid getting reported
These are the main things that Instagram considers. Your content must be according to the Instagram community rules and attractive material for your followers. If an account is reported repeatedly, Instagram will assume this account is posting inappropriate content or violating the terms and regulations. Instagram will disable your account, or you will get shadowbanned.
4. Take a break from Instagram.
To avoid the shadowban, you have to take a break from Instagram. According to shadowbanned users, it is very effective to avoid the app for some days don’t be active on Instagram. This will be worth the fresh start.
5. Avoid using banned hashtags.
Some fixed hashtags look controversial and inappropriate, so Instagram has banned them. You need to avoid using those hashtags; if you use them, this will make your account prominent, and Instagram will block your account or be shadowbanned.
FAQs
Summary
Instagram shadow ban is an act that restates the users’ content without informing them about what is happening to their content. This mostly happens to the users who have violated the rules of Instagram or sometimes due to inappropriate content.
If your account is not appearing for specific hashtags or on the explore pages, you might be shadowbanned. So don’t break the rules set by Instagram. Your content must be according to the Instagram community rules and attractive material for your followers.
If an account is reported repeatedly, Instagram will assume this account is posting inappropriate content. Instagram will block your account.
