Losing your followers or seeing a drastic drop in engagement is the worst nightmare for any influencer or marketer on Instagram. It sounds scary not getting your post featured in a hashtag search result. But all these things have happened to many accounts in the past few months. The users have been bewildered by these changes, and they do not know the reason behind this. Shadow ban is one of the explanations for this bizarre and unpleasant effect on the accounts of the influencer on Instagram.
What is a shadow ban?
In general terms, Shadowban connotes blocking the social media account of users in a way that they do not get to know it is happening. So, you will not even know if you have been shadow banned on the Instagram platform.
Your content or post will not show up on any user feed unless they follow your account, which makes it trickier for you to grow your account and increase your reach. Shadow banning eventually will make your growth stagnant and reduce your numbers drastically.
Shadow ban act as a secret ban. Even the platform does not accept the claim of shadow banning. So, shadow banning can put you on the back foot and squander all your efforts.
The purpose of a shadow ban
A shadow ban can indeed leave users and marketers in dismay and distress. But if you look from the perspective of Instagram this will make a lot of sense. It allows the platform to weed out users who do not abide by the terms and conditions of the platform.
Many marketers and users misuse bots to increase their engagement and followers, and this malpractice is prohibited and a term violation. Therefore, Instagram takes serious action against users indulging in such activity. Shadowbanning such accounts will help the platform upkeep its credibility.
How to not get shadow banned?
The first point about not getting shadow banned is organic growth. Never use bots for your growth, as inorganic growth has a high chance of getting backfired. So, always go for organic growth.
Too many hashtags is also a bad idea for any of your post. You are increasing your chance of being shadow banned if using irrelevant and redundant hashtags to get visibility. If users click “do not show” for the hashtag, the post will also get hampered.
Make sure you do not breach any terms and conditions of the platform to never get shadowbanned. The effect of a shadow ban can leave you in distress. So, it is better to avoid any malpractice that can affect reach and engagement.
