How to Test for & Prevent It

When trying to gain a following on Instagram, you rely on Explore and hashtag pages to expand your audience and reach. So it can feel more than a little daunting when it suddenly looks like your content isn’t showing anywhere.

If you feel that your posts are suddenly getting fewer likes and comments, or are not showing up on certain hashtags or on the Explore page, you may be banned in the shadows.

From Instagram’s point of view, the goal of hiding “inappropriate” content makes sense (although its enforcement has been criticized). Shadowbanning enables Instagram to filter out accounts that do not meet their terms. Some people use inauthentic measures to grow their Instagram followers like buying followers or using hundreds of hashtags that are irrelevant to their content. If so, it makes sense for Instagram to hide content from these accounts so that only real and helpful content is promoted to users.

While Instagram doesn’t openly admit shadowbanning, they posted a statement on their Facebook business page in February 2019 addressing the problem users had when their content wasn’t showing up for certain hashtags.

Her testimony at least confirms the hashtag dilemma to be real – but many speculate that the statement is Instagram’s way of admitting shadowbanning without actually admitting it.

It is important to note that Instagram changes its algorithm frequently. These changes could be the reason why your engagement rate has decreased.

However, shadowbanning could be a real tactic for hiding users’ content from the wider Instagram audience, and if you do get shadowbanning, it is important that you take the necessary steps to see your content.

Let’s find out how to know if you’re shadow banned as well as our tips to get yourself off the list.

Fortunately, there is a simple test to find out if your account is locked.

If one or two of your employees can see your contribution, you may be dealing with a drop in engagement. If so, there are a number of steps you can take to resolve it.

Check out our Instagram Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for tactical advice on improving your reach and engagement.

While the above method is a simple way to test if you have been banned, it might not be practical for your business. Perhaps you are the sole owner and employee of your small business. In this case, you can’t ask reps to check their hashtag feeds, and you might not want to ask your customers. Here are more ways you can test to see if you’ve been shadow banned.

Instagram Shadowban test

There’s no such thing as a foolproof test to determine if you’ve been shadowed on Instagram. While there are tools out there that advertise that they can do just that, these tools are not reliable. Try the following steps instead.

Check your hashtag pages.

If you’re looking at pages with hashtags that you use regularly and you see a message that posts have been hidden, it is possible that you have been banned from using those hashtags.

Take a look at the message below for the hashtag “mustfollow”. Since users have reported that recently published posts using this hashtag do not meet Instagram’s community guidelines, it is possible that Instagram is hiding your content using this hashtag (even if yours) Not in violation of guidelines).

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Check out Instagram insights.

If you notice a sudden and sustained drop in engagement on Instagram Insights, it is possible that you have been banned in the shadows. One of the best metrics is the percentage of accounts reached that didn’t follow you.

Check out the difference in “discovery” of the following two posts. This duo of bloggers reached just over 40,000 of over 70,000 accounts, 32% of which didn’t follow them, of which only 4% didn’t follow them. That drop gave a sign to bloggers that their account was banned.

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If you think you have been banned in the shade, don’t worry – we have a solution for you.

Why am I banned from the shadow

There are a few possible reasons why your account has been suspended. To make sure this doesn’t happen again, let’s examine some measures you may have taken that resulted in your being banned in the shadows.

1. You use bots or another automated “Instagram growth” tool.

If you don’t do the hard work yourself, you are not building an authentic following. Instagram disapproves of this – in their statement above, for example, they encourage users to pursue a strategy that focuses on connecting with the right audience. Using bots is a spam tactic and can lead to shadowban.

2. You are using broken hashtags.

Occasionally, a popular hashtag gets overrun with inappropriate content. In this case, Instagram can remove the hashtag or limit its use. Using a broken hashtag will prevent your other hashtags from ranking and can also result in your account being banned.

3. Your account is reported often.

If users repeatedly report an account, Instagram will assume that your account is posting inappropriate content or violating their Terms of Service. You could deactivate your account or ban it via shadow.

4. You posted, commented, engaged, or followed people too quickly.

Instagram sets time limits on how often you can follow, unfollow, like, comment, or post in an hour or a day. This makes sense – if you follow 80 people in an hour, a bot is likely doing the work, not you.

These promotions can help you get a fan base quickly, but they cannot help you connect with the right people which is why you are on Instagram in the first place. In addition, these behaviors are likely to result in a shadowban that severely limits your presence to a new audience.

How to get Unshadowbanned

To get your account back to normal, you should undo the damage. Here’s how:

If you are using a bot or any other automated service, stop and delete it immediately.

To make sure the accounts are not yet linked to you, go to your Instagram desktop and click on “Edit Profile” then “Apps and Websites”. If you see any of your bot accounts in the Active tab, click Remove to completely remove it from your account.

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Remember, it is better to have 100 followers who love your brand and buy your products than 1,000 followers who never buy from you or interact with your content.

Don’t use forbidden hashtags.

Take a look at Markitor’s list of banned hashtags for 2021 and be sure to remove any broken hashtags from your content. Here are a few from the list:

In the future, be selective and careful with the hashtags you have chosen and if in doubt, take a look at the hashtag page – Instagram will likely post a message like “The last posts from # summer2020 are currently hidden …” indicating this that the hashtag is no longer used.

Take a two-day break.

People have reported that taking a full 48 hour break from using their Instagram accounts can reset the system and get you back on track, and temporarily cleaning social media is worth it anyway, isn’t it?

Follow Instagram’s rules and regulations.

Read and follow Instagram’s Terms of Use, Community Guidelines, and Referral Guidelines. Some notable findings from these documents are:

• Only share content that you have created or that has permission to share

• Do not post content that is false or misleading

• Share content that is visible to everyone

The foolproof way to avoid the Instagram shadowban

The easiest way to avoid shadowban on Instagram is to post helpful, authentic content and to stick to best practices as you grow your audience. It takes longer to do this, but slowly and steadily the race wins – and won’t be banned.

E.Note from ditor: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for completeness.