The Instagram Shadow ban is undoubtedly something you’ve heard of by now. Or perhaps you’ve read numerous blogs regarding the decline in Instagram accounts’ visibility and reach. Additionally, stuff is missing from the Explore Page!
Every day, more rumours, speculations, and grievances are posted on social media, despite Instagram’s denials.
So, is it a cover-up, or is there a far more straightforward reason? After reviewing statements and articles from the previous three years, we believe there is a rather obvious explanation and some advice on handling a shadow ban.
Ready to look into it?
What is the shadow ban on Instagram?
What is an Instagram shadow ban? There appear to be more rumours and ideas than verifiable information about the shadow ban.
An Instagram shadow ban is essentially the platform limiting the audience for your material by limiting exposure. Your hashtagged content not appearing on Explore pages for anyone other than your followers is a shadow ban’s leading “indicator”. Another effect is that your postings’ audience and visibility are severely constrained.
Personal accounts, creator accounts, and business accounts attempting to expand their Instagram following find this frustrating!
Our first crucial cue? The word “shadow banning” was used to describe a similar Twitter behavior. It’s not a recognized term, yet social media users frequently use it.
Also Read: How to Use Instagram Stories for Business: The Ultimate Guide
What to Look for to See if You’ve Been Shadow banned
Because of Instagram’s “shadow ban” policies, it can be difficult to tell if you have been punished if it isn’t immediately apparent. The following tests should give you a good indicator if you have been shadow banned, albeit there is no guaranteed method to do so:
Examine your postings.
Send a brand-new live post together with a popular hashtag. To find out if your post shows, ask a few people who do not follow you to check the content beneath the hashtag. If it doesn’t, you might want to look a little further.
Check the hashtags you use.
Among other things, Instagram has acknowledged that some disputed hashtags have been hidden. If you find a message concealed behind one of these hashtags, you may have used it.
Take a look at your Instagram insights data.
There’s a good possibility you’ve been shadow banned if your impressions and engagement outside of your follower base have suddenly dropped dramatically.
How to Lift a Shadow ban on Instagram
So you believe that you have been shadow banned? Uncertainty surrounds the duration of a shadow ban’s detrimental impact on your account, which is unfortunate. While some users have stated two weeks, others believe it may last longer.
Here are some steps you can take to correct your account’s issues as quickly as possible potentially.
1. Stop engaging in behavior that is against the service’s guidelines.
Using low-cost engagement strategies like Instagram, comments, and follower pods illustrates this. Instagram’s algorithm is challenging to trick. The crackdown on bot behavior no longer allows apps to hide.
No hard proof exists that engaging in such behavior results in shadow banned status. But it’s always better to err on the side of caution. Your account may be locked for a minimum of 24 to 48 hours or shut down.
2. Turning off any unauthorized third-party applications
Many apps available need access to your Instagram account to function. Do you use an app to automate engagement, track followers and unfollowers, or look for hashtags? Unfortunately, all of these offences are serious ones.
Only Instagram Partners should have their requests for access to the Instagram API granted.
Thank goodness Instagram has approved the partnership with Tailwind. Within our app, you can organise your Instagram grid, schedule posts, find hashtags, and track statistics.
3. Avoid Using Banned or Restricted Hashtags
Using hashtags with restrictions may reduce your engagement, and using these hashtags excessively could lead to the deletion of your Instagram account. Always double-check your hashtags. Before adding new hashtags to your mix, make it a practice to check to make sure they aren’t banned quickly.
If you use a prohibited hashtag, you can go into your post’s editing tool and take out only that one. Only the limited ones need to be taken out.
The Hashtag Finder tool from Tailwind is excellent for managing your hashtags. Additionally, you can confirm that you are not using any restricted or forbidden hashtags. You can find a suitable combination of hashtags relevant to your photo and add them to lists.
4. Contact the Instagram Support Team
Why can’t followers see your feed updates or locate you on the Explore page? Sending Instagram Support a message to see if they can review is worthwhile. To report a problem, access your profile’s menu, settings (the cog icon), and help section.
Don’t mention a shadow ban; just let them know that your business is suffering since your followers can’t read your updates.
5. Avoid acting robotically
It’s true that if you post, comment, or like on Instagram too frequently in a short period, Instagram will put you on timeout. This also applies to following and unfollowing accounts quickly.
This extraordinary engagement rate is likely bot activity, according to Instagram.
Conclusion
Social media is an effective tool. And operating a business in the internet age can be quite advantageous if entrepreneurs, marketers, or even bloggers take full use of this chance. One should choose the best social media marketing company to enhance their social visibility. One of the primary methods for flagging content is reporting. Alternatively, the system can interpret your post as having dubious material. Make sure the content you publish complies with the community guidelines. Make sure your material also aligns with the interests of your followers. Skipping the app for a few days is worthwhile for a new start!