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Hidden ban. Shadow ban on Instagram: what is it, how to check, go out and remove it. How to get out of a shadowban

Have you decided not to spend money on adequate promotion, did you just want to get a nice number? Have you decided to get likes and comments on your posts, but after fulfilling your dream of 666 likes on each photo, have you noticed that your posts no longer appear in hashtag searches? Congratulations, you are banned. What is a shadow ban on Instagram, and how can you tell whether you are banned or simply not interesting to users? We will talk about this in more detail.

Shadow ban

Some people believe that ShadowBan is something of an Instagram mythology. Something akin to pessimizing the reach of accounts participating in liketimes. In fact, of course, there is no pessimization, but about secret blocking it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer. And it's much better for business to think from the worst to get the best. So let's assume that it does exist.

So, the blocking is that your posts are no longer shown in hashtag searches. And this significantly reduces the reach, the number of likes and the influx of subscribers.

Word to Instagram

How did the administration comment on such a repressive measure? social network? In fact, no way. There is very little information about the exact conditions for being blacklisted. And there are more fairy tales around this phenomenon than about how many more years Putin will be in power.

But we still managed to get some comments from them. For example, Inst confirmed that some hashtags are blocked. This means you need to choose them wisely so that all posts can be easily found.

Symptoms

So if you're worried about this, take a look at the list below and see if you have them:

Have you recently used such “dirty” promotion methods as mass following or mass liking;
the number of likes has dropped sharply;

Fewer subscribers are coming to you.

But, even if all the symptoms coincide, it is not a fact that you have a blockage. Maybe the quality of the content has simply dropped, and you can’t even interest your grandmother. To know for sure, you can go to a special resource. shadowban.azurewebsites.net The only downside is that it is in a foreign language. But in fact, figuring it out is as easy as shelling pears - enter your account nickname or insert a link to the publication and click on “Get tested” or “Start”, if translated into Russian.

If there is no ban, you will see the following inscription: “Phew, you’re safe...for tonight!” Which translates to "Phew...you're safe...for today." There is no block on my account, so I don’t know what will be written if there is still a shadowban. But, if something else, you will have to work on using such good promotion tools as hashtags.

How long does a shadow ban last on Instagram?

Rumors about the blocking did not come out of nowhere. Many users actually experienced interruptions with posts that appeared in search results using the hashtag. But soon everything returned to its place. For some in a couple of days, for others in a week, for others in two. The duration varied, but everything invariably returned to its place.

True, given that Instagram is constantly growing, developing and modernizing, these may simply be temporary bugs and technical problems. But you knew that ShadowBan is practically a fairy tale, weren’t you expecting an exact answer?

There is an exit

People’s advice can be combined in one sentence: forget about Instagram for a while. If this is not possible, there are several manipulations:

Switch to a personal account for a few days.
Do not use profile management services.
Avoid potentially dangerous hashtags.

Remember that ShadowBan is still a fabulous phenomenon. Although Instagram does not deny it, it does not confirm it. There is only one answer to direct questions: mechanisms for personalizing the search selection are being developed; if you want hashtag promotion to work, make good content.

Myths of the shadowban

Here I will simply present some versions of young conspiracy theorists. Perhaps I will comment on some. But hopefully you're familiar enough with Instagram to understand why these myths are funny.

TB is issued for using deferred posting and statistics services.
"Bad" hashtags. This point is not as funny as the first, but still rather dubious.
For consistency. No seriously. Some believe that using the same tags for a long time can ensure a shadowban.
Exceeding the limits on likes and comments.
For using mainstream hashtags. It would be cool if this point was real, maybe at least people would be more original than they are now.
Hashtags are off topic.

Conclusion

Instagram shadow ban. What is this? Myth or reality? It’s impossible to give a definite answer, because we don’t work for Facebook. However, there are a few things you should avoid to ensure you don't end up under reprisals. Down with mass following and mass liking. No, seriously, it only causes trouble and is no good for business. We create quality content and use hashtags wisely.

Mythology Instagram- this is simply a fantastically fertile topic for various information businessmen. It’s very cool to pour water, exaggerate and scare people with things that are extremely difficult to check. There have already been so many horror stories about new draconian methods of algorithms, and how many more there will be. One of my favorite examples of such misinformation is the rumor that publications participating in LikeTimes, are tracked by an algorithm and artificially receive coverage pessimization.

IMPORTANT POINT.

On November 23, 2018, almost 2 years after its appearance, Facebook support confirmed the existence of shadowban.

“If people follow a link to your publication from Telegram or whatsapp, then the coverage will be zero,” this is how young talents in chats were frightened and many believed. They say they tested and noticed a decrease in coverage. I really love confirmations like this. If modern physics had been built on them, we would still have lived together in the Stone Age. You take 1-2 cases that somehow fit a well-ordered theory, and that’s it, it’s proven.

It looks like Instagram has changed the way hashtags are censored.

A week ago it was used by about a thousand people per hour; today it proudly speaks of 4,500 checks per hour. People just went crazy... I can’t understand how limited results for a limited set of hashtags can affect the results of your post for other tags. The logic is clear: “I put a bad hashtag, Instagram I punished you greatly,” but reality does not agree with this.

I specifically added prohibited hashtags to new posts and tried to find them (posts) using other hashtags posted in the text. Everything is displayed perfectly even from unrelated accounts.

3. For using the same set of hashtags over time. Many people talk about this thing, but I have never seen real confirmation anywhere. If you find it, post it in the comments. In the meantime, it sounds like crazy nonsense.

There is an account that has been using the same set of hashtags for more than a year and is constantly getting into the top.

4. For exceeding hourly and daily limits on likes/comments/subscriptions. “Let’s drag everything here by the ears, everything scary and terrible.”

For exceeding limits Instagram disables your ability to like/comment, or simply deletes your account. But how can you get a mystical “shadow ban” for this?

5. For using high frequency hashtags. Oh, vey... So what now, all the accounts that published #love will they be punished? Funny.

6. Because hashtags are not tied to the topic of the post. I heard this surprisingly interesting story from the “grandmother of Russian blogging.” True, she couldn’t find an answer to the question of how Instagram manages to determine the topic of my post and associate it with hashtags.

Even if we imagine the situation that Instagram connected neural networks that identify objects in photo/video posts, began to analyze the text, make connections, and so on, the work of such systems today is far from one hundred percent results, and issuing a ban based on such data is stupid. And imagine for a second what power such a system should have. Your loved one would have to spend too much effort Facebook on such a whim, but they were not noticed for the useless squandering of resources.

7. For content complaints. Well... You'll definitely notice, I decided Instagram whether your content is bad or not. And that's why - .

8. For 30 hashtags under the post. And after this there follows a tale that it is better to use 15. WHY!? Why not 10? Why not 13?

9. Switch from business to regular profile. Don't know what to do? Switch to your personal profile. Reinforced concrete logic that works for any problem.

Instagram allows you to use 30 hashtags under a post, which means you can. There is no other information, why invent something?

As for me, the only thing missing is the story that you cannot publish posts from 12:45 to 12:47 every second Wednesday of the month. The evidence base is approximately the same level for each “myth” and ends with the question “where did you get this in the first place?”

We will try to be objective, Shadowban may not exist as it is described.

But we agree that Instagram somehow flags the account as spam. And you need to be as careful as possible when promoting. Do as much as possible more authentic content.

We confirm the fact that there is a problem with the indexing of hashtags in the photo. But the problem is not widespread. Definitely less 1% of clients

© Instaplus

SUMMARY

The shadow ban is another urban legend born out of an information vacuum around internal updates to the algorithms. Instagram introduced algorithmic factors for displaying posts when searching by hashtags, there is no ban.

You can believe in it and light a candle at night, or think logically and critically evaluate any information that is broadcast by “Internet-marketing-gurus-and-marketers-on-Instagram”, often asking the question with the herali: did you get it? Why? Maybe the world will become a little better.

If you've read this far and are still unsure about the mythology surrounding Shadowban,

Publication date 02/27/2017

There is such a thing on Facebook and Twitter as a hidden ban. It automatically, without the user’s knowledge, changes the status of his account to closed. This means that the contents of the account are not visible to anyone - not even friends. From the outside, no changes are observed - everything works as usual. But, nevertheless, there are no likes, no comments - nothing at all. Now Instagram has also “learned” this trick. True, here the hidden ban (in English - Shadowban) works with its own characteristics. Posts posted on a banned page are available not only to its owner, but also to his followers. But third-party users will not be able to see anything.

How to tell if Instagram has banned you?

Create a new post using a hashtag that is not very common. After that, log into another account or ask your friends to help. All you need to do is try to find a post using the hashtag specified in it. If it works, then everything is in order, if not, this is a sure sign of a ban.

Reasons for hidden ban

Instagram wants to protect itself from bots and mass following, so it has become more demanding of the actions of its users. Among other things, the social network does not like you if you:

used a bot or application to increase the number of followers;
used hashtags from the Instagram blacklist (for example, with swear words);
use the same set of hashtags for a long time or launch massive likes/comments (the social network perceives this behavior as a sign of a bot).

All this ultimately leads to a hidden ban.

How to get out of the ban?

Unfortunately, no way. According to reports from users who encountered a similar problem, none of the possible solutions worked. And different attempts were made! Therefore, for now there is only one way out: do not give Instagram a reason to be “offended” at you.

Hello!.

In addition to the fact that I have this blog, I have also been actively promoting my Instagram account for the second year now.

In total, I attracted more than 200,000 subscribers and I managed to learn something about the ranking algorithm of Instagram itself.

I also often heard about the so-called “shadow ban”. And here's what I think about it:

Shadowbanning on Instagram is a myth. There is only 1 ban - blocking for violating the rules. Everything else is ranking algorithms.

What does “shadowban” mean on Instagram and how to check it

Let's define what is meant by the term “shadow ban”. This expression is usually used by bloggers whose user activity has decreased and the reach of their posts has fallen.

User activity- these are likes, comments, adding an entry to bookmarks.

Coverage– this is the percentage of subscribers who saw the blogger’s post.

This phenomenon exists on Instagram, but still it is not some kind of “shadow ban”, but a certain algorithm that depends on many factors.

It is impossible to check whether any sanctions were applied to you or not. This algorithm can only be felt on your account.

If suddenly your reach has decreased and your activity has dropped, it means you did something wrong. Let's try to figure out what the problem might be.

What NOT to do to avoid being shadowbanned

First, re-read the Instagram rules very carefully again. Try to do this at least once every few months.

Secondly, never break these rules. It is for violations that ranking algorithms are used.

Avoid Giveaway Contests

Giveaway is a quick set of motivated subscribers who subscribe to an account not because they are interested in it, but because they do it for the sake of a “free” prize.

How it works. The organizer gathers a group of sponsoring bloggers of 20–30 people. As a rule, all participants represent completely different niches.

Participation in such a giveaway can cost 60,000 rubles. 60 thousand rubles. multiply by 30 participants and get an amount of 1,800,000 rubles.

You probably already know and have seen what happens next. “Star” releases a video on its Instagram in which it colorfully tells what wonderful prizes in the form of iPhones, cars, travel packages you will receive if you perform one simple action - just subscribe to all the participants in this competition and just wait for the draw.

Crowds of freebie lovers begin to subscribe to all bloggers, without even delving into who they are and what they do.

Participants in this competition begin to enjoy the exponential growth of new subscribers. One such motivated subscriber can cost only 1 – 2 rubles.

It seems that everyone should be happy, but no, in the end only the stars who made money by deceiving their audience and the organizer who organized it all remain happy.

After a while, both subscribers and giveaway participants begin to suffer. And this is very interconnected.

This is where this mythical “shadowban” of Instagram appears.

The Power of the News Feed Algorithm

Now let's imagine our poor subscriber who has subscribed to 40 previously unknown bloggers.

He logs into his Instagram feed and is bombarded with messages from people he sees for the first time in his life.

And each of these bloggers is trying to impose something on him: be it just a photo or a text with “smart” thoughts, etc.

What reaction will such a subscriber have?

His first thought will be “Who are all these people?” and he begins to scroll through all the messages until he gets to a post from his friends or acquaintances.

And several tens of thousands more of the same subscribers will do the same!

This is where the first problems with coverage and activity begin.

The Instagram algorithm begins to “see” that your posts have suddenly become of no interest to anyone, because they are not watched, liked or discussed.

Accordingly, filters are applied to you (shadow ban), and from that moment on it gets worse and worse in terms of activity.

After some time, subscribers begin to realize that they were cheated with prizes and they begin to unsubscribe from the blogger en masse.

This is another signal for the Instagram algorithm. He “sees” that in addition to the fact that posts are not read, people also unsubscribe en masse, which means your content is of very low quality, although in fact it may be the best, but the algorithms focus primarily on people’s behavior!

The problems do not end there, but only intensify.

Especially damaging are those subscribers who not only unsubscribe, but also massively complain about the blogger, marking all his publications as spam.

As a result, you get such a “shadow ban” that the only thing worse than a real account ban.

Consequences from giveaway

Ultimately, your account is under a filter. After some time, 70–80% of motivated subscribers will unsubscribe from you.

Whether or not to participate in such competitions is up to you to decide. First of all, you must understand for yourself what you need from Instagram.

Are there many subscribers with low involvement or subscribers who will really be interested in you and who will be with you “through thick and thin”?

A simple example, pay attention to accounts that have a million subscribers, but get a maximum of 20,000 likes or views do not exceed 100,000. Most likely, these accounts participated in similar competitions and there are not a million real loyal subscribers there!

Shadowban by hashtags

The next thing you can be “punished” for is the abuse of hashtags. There is no need to put hashtags that have nothing to do with the post.

Also there should not be too many of them. No need to make a sheet out of them. You can also easily get a “shadow ban” for this.

Other reasons for an Instagram account to fall under filters

Do not use other people's content without indicating the original source. For some reason, we consider it normal to take someone else’s photo or video and publish it as if nothing had happened.

Firstly, algorithms are excellent at distinguishing unique content from non-unique content.

Never use photos or videos that violate laws. You can read all the rules on the Instagram website.

How long does it last and how to get out of a shadowban on Instagram

Everything that I described above is what I encountered in my practice. It took me more than 4 months for all my indicators to return to normal.

People don't unsubscribe all at once, they do it gradually over several months.

And only when the increase in new subscribers is higher than the number of unsubscribers, the situation will begin to change.

In addition, you need to constantly work to improve the quality of your content.

It is imperative to involve subscribers in the discussion, perhaps even make some provocative posts.

Instagram's algorithm takes everything into account! Likes, comments, bookmarks. Make stories, start actively working with subscribers and you will be happy!

Conclusion

So, we figured out that the “shadow ban” is a myth that is not in the description or in the Instagram rules. There are complex algorithms that depend on many factors.

As soon as you want to deceive, cheat, manipulate, you will immediately receive one of these filters.

Instagram will not allow you to gain subscribers using such “workaround” methods as Giveaways! This is not economically beneficial for him. The entire social network system is designed so that you spend as much money as possible on promotion.

Always work honestly and hard and you will never have such problems.

I hope my article was useful to you and you learned some lessons for yourself. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments below, I will definitely answer them.

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You post a note, but only those who are already subscribers to the channel can see it. Other people won't find your content in the feed. Already received metrics: , likes, coverage - do not change. The account itself continues to work. Such a profile becomes invisible.

The definition of a shadow ban appeared in the spring of 2017. Then many foreign bloggers faced the problem of invisible posts. Many SMM specialists consider these sanctions to be a fiction.

How long does a shadow ban last on Instagram and myths about “hidden blocking”

The idea of sanctions from Instagram did not come out of nowhere. Some users actually had posts disappear from the search results. But as a result, everything returned to its place and some marketers came to the conclusion that these were temporary system bugs due to algorithm updates. Typically, the entry appeared in searches within a few hours.

However, there is an opinion that a shadow ban is issued for:

Use of services and . Such applications are formally prohibited on Instagram. But there is no evidence that the disappearance of hashtags from search results is related to them. It is enough to use such methods carefully (not constantly) and post original content, following the rules of the site, in order to secure your account.
Publication of frequency hashtags. Instagram is turning off some high-frequency queries from searches because they are used to distribute prohibited content. Also, the more often # is found among other bloggers, the more difficult it is to promote with the same one.
Permanent hashtag sets that do not change for a long time. The social network advocates for unique materials and worsens the ranking of those posts where most of the photos are taken up by text and other people’s illustrations. But constant tags do not interfere with promotion.
Adding non-thematic hashtags to notes. This is not a very convincing explanation, since it is unclear how Instagram determines the content of the material. A system with such capabilities would require a lot of resources, but this would not guarantee 100% results.
Complaints about the profile from other users. In this case, blocking may actually follow. Only not hidden, but the real one, when Account not available.
Using auto-posting applications and spamming comments/private messages. There are permitted services for deferred posts. As for many messages, the system will not allow you to send more than intended. Once the limit is exceeded, access to . But nothing will happen with publications.

Later, one of the social media promotion companies came up with a special scale called iDoT (Instagram “Degree of Trust”). It has ten divisions, arranged in descending order. The more points you have, the better the account. This means that he will not be blocked. The more violations, the lower the score and the higher the likelihood of losing your profile.

It is recommended to check for a shadow ban on Instagram in two ways: through the service of the same name or manually, from another account. On your own or with the help of friends who do not follow you, check if the note is in the search after it is published.

In the same year, on February 28, Instagram posted an announcement that some hashtags were not working, but at the moment the problem could not be solved. Profile owners were advised to pay attention to promotion using content: write useful and interesting texts, take beautiful and creative photographs, shoot stories, add corporate elements to the design.

How to remove a shadowban on Instagram

Adherents of the theory of hidden blocking advise giving up activities for at least three days. This includes independent actions and use of services. It is also necessary to remove hashtags that are potentially dangerous for promotion. If after three to four days the situation has not changed, only contacting Instagram technical support will help. This is what marketer Catelyn Pierce did. She wrote a letter on Facebook and communicated with company representatives for several days. On her website she posted everything she could find out about ShadowBan.

In short, the point is that a post with a certain hashtag does not guarantee that it will appear in the search results in the first few days, since there are more than 700 million users on Instagram. They can put the same label on records. This means that only the most popular ones will appear in the top and they will constantly change.

If your posts are not visible to other users, this could be due to a problem with Instagram. In such a huge social network, things often break and are not implemented as intended. The search may be updated later.

Your account may also be disabled due to your violation of the rules. But in this case, you will not be able to access your profile; such a blocking can hardly be called hidden. Photos and text will be excluded from the feed if a prohibited hashtag is attached to it. This list is constantly changing, new words are added to it. Therefore, before attaching a tag, check it. Click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen, enter it in the empty field. If there are no photos, then the hashtag is not working.

Shadowbanning is an unconfirmed phenomenon. Representatives of the social network spoke only about the updated algorithm, which makes the search results personalized. To successfully promote your account and not fall under real sanctions, it is important: