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Introduction
Opening your instagram account, you found the engagement of your users have plummeted overnight. You’ve lost a lot of followers and you’re not sure why.
Followers are similar to passengers except when they begin to leave at a rapid pace and in big numbers. That’s a concern for your Instagram business platform, to be sure.
This is a major concern for you, and in order to resolve this,
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And, as you are directed to my blog, you must have heard or in your case read the word “shadowbanned” repetitively.
And therefore you are compelled to ask “what is shadowbanned”
Simply put, Shadowban is a loose term used for the accounts on your social media platform which has been thrown into a state of semi-invisibility.
In your case, your Instagram account has been shadow banned meaning that your posts, followers and other account activities have ceased to exist or you are restricted to use them.
Now, it could be that you defied a term and guideline on your Instagram account or this could even be a bug!
Confused!
Let’s look into the problem that’s been bothering your Instagram success.
Does Instagram Perform Shadowbanned
Oh! Well this is a tricky one. You might know that Instagram never directly uses the term “Shadowbanned” itself.
Even the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri was asked by a reporter directly,
“Shadowbanning: It’s not a thing, right?”
To this Mosseri replied
“Shadowbanning is not a thing”
That was cleared in June 8, blog post where Adam Mosseri clears
The technicality of misconception about “The algorithm” of Instagram that promotes the idea of one single algorithm whereas there are multiple algorithms working together to keep instagram user friendly.
Discussed by him in the video below,
But, as the question of whether or not Instagram puts Shadowbans on business and personal accounts has been a popular issue among its users.
Let’s read some post by Instagram,
Instagram released this post that completely denies use of “shadowbanning” by the team in 2019 as shown in picture below, here, as the questions of “Am I Shadowbanned” “Shadow Banned Meaning?” were making an uproar in the world of social platforms such as on Instagram.
Now, with the rise of such questions Instagram posted another content on its facebook page which was still a vague explanation of the issues.
Rather, this post tells the user to focus on content instead of gathering hashtags on their posts. You can read the portion of the post given below.
This post revealed that users’ (such as yourself) real issues were due to the hashtag glitches (which may be due to using broken or banned tags) which has created the problem of non-visibility among their followers and some of these posts do not display pics or Quotes on it.
This explanation still didn’t answer the question of “what is shadowbanned on Instagram”
Though here’s the catch: This phrase “shadow ban” is not used directly by Instagram but this phenomenon exists in different forms such as Instagram black lists, banned hashtags, temporary blocking,etc.
So, you need to be careful of certain guidelines that may cause your posts and accounts to be faulted for violations.
What Is Shadowbanned On Instagram
Well, let’s be clear here Instagram does perform Shadowbans, it just does this to provide a better experience to users than the marketers.
So, as per my understanding, Instagram shadowban is unofficially popular among its users.
As this occurs when Instagram’s algorithm (which has been continually evolving since 2006) filters your accounts on the basis that your content does not comply with the Instagram’s terms and guidelines. Some of which are given in the pictorial below
What happens is that Instagram blocks your account, thereby making it invisible and preventing your posts from reaching out to new followers.
Though, your current followers are able to see your photos and other components but for any new leads these cease to exist.
That is, your Instagram components, such as photographs, reels under hashtags, would not be accessible to new followers, resulting in lesser engagement with them.
Hence, getting more followers for your account is quite challenging.
This may even mean that you are banned on Instagram and if you believe you are shadowbanned on your instagram account. Let’s check out some way you can confirm it.
How To Know If You’re Shadowbanned On Instagram
Now, with clarity of “What Is shadowbanned on Instagram”, it is required of you to check whether your post’s or account’s visibility and ban respectively, was not a fruit of you violating some guidelines.
The shadow-banned meaning and understanding took a lot of research as I presented to you in the above sections.
So, with this meaning in mind, let’s check out these points to answer your “how to know if you’re shadowbanned on Instagram” while confirming your account is shadowbanned or not.
Let’s read on
Hashtag Pages
Check the hashtags pages that you are ranking on and if you find a message “the post has been hidden”. Then, your post has been shadowban due to the hashtag as seen in the picture below.
This post has been hidden for #mustfollow
This post has been hidden due to #elevator.
Shadowban Test
A much better clarity of shadow banned meaning is by performing an unofficial test, popularly recognized as the Instagram Shadowban Test among Instagram users.
This can be done by using tools such as Triberr and The Heist . As these tools check hashtags or ethnicity on your posts, they are reliable.
There is another test that could help you with finding out whether you are shadowbanned or just bugged, by following these steps of instagram shadowbanned test.
1) Posting a new post on Instagram with a very famous hashtag attached.
You have to use a famous hashtag because using a common or newly made hashtag is difficult for users to find and could easily be reported as unreliable for instagram users too.
2) Now, ask at least two to three non- followers (they can be your friends or family members that don’t follow you) to observe if the post is visible to them and the picture of the post is visible under the hashtag that you used.
Well, when this is done you can easily conclude with results whether your account has been shadow banned or not.
Result 1: If the post is visible to these observers (non-followers), this means it might be a glitch or bug!
Voila! You are safe. Whooo.
But, now to the most dreaded result,
Result 2: If your post isn’t visible to the non-followers, then, your account has been shadowbanned by Instagram and you’re restricted to use the platform. (Now, the period of Instagram Shadowban is 14 days maximum as per some users)
Instagram Insights
You could just be facing the decline of followers due to a hashtag glitch, lack of content or the irregular content.
It is these issues or you have been actually shadowbanned which can be concluded by another tool provided by Instagram: Instagram Insights.
This tool analyses current engagement with your followers that you can compare to weeks old statistics. These reports are represented through the graphs and data within it.
Look at the picture below
The instagram insights show you data according to your audiences Growth (increment), location, age and activity time.
High fluctuations in certain activity such as active time or increasing followers, can provide you with enough data to know if you are instagram shadowbanned or not.
Instagram’s Reason For Shadow Ban
If the analysis of your instagram account does not fall under the category of shadowbanned meaning of instagram analytic.
Then, this means, the cause of your sudden invisibility among users, decline of followers and restriction of your Instagram account is due one of the following reasons.
Violated Terms & Service
If your post has violent-content, explicit graphic-content, sexually suggestive content and content that has misinformation about the product and services. Your chances of getting banned increases.
So, take care of the guidelines and try not to fault them.
Used A Third Party Software
You use an unapproved third party software to post your content on the platform on time can be against the terms of Instagram as some of these softwares are unapproved by the platform.
So, using such an application makes you faulty under the guidelines and your account can be disabled by the team under such guidelines.
Abused Limits
There is a time limit set by Instagram, so if you spend too much time on Instagram, the platform’s authority can ban you from your account.
The limit of likes and commenting prohibits you from using too many likes, comments and follows as these fall under restricted guidelines.
Used Banned Hashtag
There are too many banned hashtags such as #date, #desk, #costumes, #brain, #elevator, #dm, #besties, etc are not to be used in your post as you could fall under defaulter of using banned hashtags.
Also, use of one hashtags for months can also get you banned from Instagram.
Consistent Reporting Of Your Account
If your behavior on the social media platform is bad, that is you get reported on a regular basis, your Instagram account would be disabled, terminated, or deleted.
So, refrain from using abusive or offensive language on this global platform as Instagram Terms and Guidelines are pretty strict in pursuance of user-centric content.
Too Quick Followers/Followings
As discussed above, Instagram sets a limit on users’ exploration time within the platform, so, if you are even following too many people in a day or unfollowing as such in bulk.
Well, Instagram can disable your account for a short time with the reason of you going too fast as you can see in the picture above.
With most problems that can make you fall under the restricted guidelines of instagram, so you need to understand that this is not a total instagram shadowban but a warning.
But if you keep on violating Instagram’s terms your account won’t just be disabled but would be deleted.
How To Avoid Getting ShadowBan On Instagram
It is easy to follow guidelines but some Instagram users are not taking potent measures to avoid getting shadow banned (get un shadowbanned on Instagram) but they are exploiting means and algorithms to their own use.
Now, this is against the guidelines and so are in need to be avoided.
Some measures that could be taken to avoid getting shadowbanned or if you are already shadow banned. You can get unshadowbanned by following these suggestions.
Do Not Appear As A Bot
Many Instagram users post comments and likes which are too frequent.
Now, this may alert Instagram’s algorithms which may take it as a sign of your account being operated by a bot.
This directs Instagram to doubt your account’s authenticity.
As many of the social media platforms are affected by this automation as shown in the graph below by statista
On social media especially Instagram this is a very concerning topic and,
“A majority of 40% of parents and 18% of teens are very concerned about these fake accounts”
So, giving too many likes, comments or posting too much is prohibited in Insta Guidelines. Stay off these lines of extremes and don’t spend too much time on instagram.
Also, do not use some paid up followers or commenters because these are easily detectable by the platform’s always developing algorithms.
This can create an adverse impact for your account by getting blocked.
So instead post genuine comments and follow people who you really want to follow because “there’s no quick route to success”.
I already told you that many of the hashtags are banned, so, not using those would make your content visible and authentic.
Also, based on 18M instagram feed posts, a study by LaterBlogs,
“Posts with 20 hashtags receive the highest average reach rate, those with 30 hashtags are close behind”
But if you’re thinking of putting irrelevant tags on unrelated content or posts. The algorithm detects your persecution and would detain you from using your instagram account.
For example:
Using “#ilovenature” hashtag on a post about “food” and a picture of coffee is very irrelevant. So do not use irrelevant hashtags with a post that has no business with it.
Self Posting
(Do Not Use Third Party Apps)
You use third-party apps such as Followers App, Cleaner for IG, Unfollowers for Instagram.
Now, as these perform bulk actions such as unfollowing or following too many people at a time, Instagram penalizes you and may even ban you from your account.
So, the best way to unfollow people or to post regularly on time is by using these apps but doing the unfollowing or posting manually.
Resetting System (2 Days Break)
If you think you are shadowbanned, you can take a 2 days holiday from Instagram.
Now, this feature of breaking continuity helps freshens the statistics of your page and as many users said that when they go on 2 days cleanse the issue is resolved itself.
With that in mind, Adam Mosseri in a post announces a new feature launched in December
“Testing “Take a Break”
We started testing a new feature called “Take a Break” this week. This opt-in control enables you to receive break reminders in-app after a duration of your choosing.
I’m excited to dig into the results & hopefully launch this sometime in December.”
This would come into practice throughout 2022 and would be implemented as such by the team within this year.
So, take a break once in a while, as this can solve your problem.
Follow Terms & Guidelines
Your content and posts must have validating content in them. That is violating any terms or guidelines set by Instagram can prone your account to be terminated, disabled, or deleted by Instagram as per the guidelines.
So, be resolute in learning what these guidelines are. Looking at this picture below, you observe that taking care of terms and guidelines may be a bit too much.
As the guidelines have been changing since 2016, so you can surely check out with instagram customer care about any faulty post or penalty over your post or content that you thought was under the Instagram guideline but has been terminated or deleted.
They would surely help you to find the fault or give you appropriate information to work with and resolve the problem.
Conclusion
With the development and changing terms of Instagram and the issue of shadowban being increased over the past two -three years has created new problems and solutions respectively.
And research conducted for you provides the easiest ways to avoid being shadowbanned on Instagram is by producing helpful posts, providing authentic material and following the practice guidelines of the instagram.
These alone provide you with an increased audience and if you want the account to cover all ground do practice information provided in this blog.
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