Shadowban on Instagram: all you need to know

Those who take a business approach to Instagram know how important it is to stay active, think of new ways to get your followers to engage with your content and make your content catchy enough for more people to find you and follow you. But many people realize along the way that their efforts may have stopped giving proper results. This could mean fewer likes you receive, Stories views, interactions, and even gaining followers. Unfortunately, these signs can indicate a shadowban on Instagram.

This term is still not well known by the more casual users of the social network, but they end up being finding out about it when problems arise in the metrics of a business profile. If before there were many rumors about shadowban on Instagram, today we know that it really exists and can affect your profile in a very negative way. You can find out more about it, how it works and how you can work around it in the guide below. Check out!

What is a shadowban on Instagram?

Shadowban on Instagram is a form of ghost ban on your social media profile. That means you don’t know it happened, as Instagram doesn’t give you any warning about what happened.

With this type of blocking applied to your profile, you’ll see your Instagram performance drop over time. There will be fewer views, likes, comments and new followers.

Still, you can continue posting normally without knowing what happened. Those who don’t care about engagement, or are not very attentive to their daily or weekly numbers may not even notice that Shadowban happened, for example.

What may cause this shadowban?

Shadowban on Instagram can be caused by misuse of the social network. This applies especially to people who use illegitimate means to get likes, followers and any type of interaction and engagement for the profile.

This includes buying followers or likes, which is easily found on the internet these days. As this appears to be an easier way to increase profile engagement, many people end up falling into this trap.

Another situation that can cause a shadowban on Instagram is the use of hashtags that have nothing to do with its content or that are considered inappropriate. Unfortunately, you may even have used a hashtag that makes sense in your native language, but is considered improper in English.

How to know if I caught a shadowban?

It’s important to note that shadowban has never been confirmed by Instagram, so you’ll never really know if your profile has been affected. Still, some users use certain measures to try to find out if they have this phantom lock on their account.

The most common way to find out is to do a regular post and with the hashtags that you would normally put in the content. Then ask some other profiles that don’t follow you to look for the hashtags you just used.

If these profiles don’t find your content through the hashtags used, it’s quite possible that you’ve been affected by a shadowban on Instagram. If at least one profile finds your post, it is likely that it has not been affected, but that it has simple engagement issues.

If you’re just dealing with these engagement issues, the solution may be a change in strategy. Look for ways to improve your engagement through legitimate third party apps.

How to fix the shadowban?

If you think your problem is the shadowban, there are still some solutions that you can try to fix your situation. Here’s what you can do:

• Don’t post anything during a period of 24 to 48 hours.
• Delete the hashtags that might have problematic content associated with them.
• Remove the access from all third party applications linked to your Instagram accounts.
• Report the situation to Instagram.
• Change your business accounts to a personal accounts temporarily.

These fixes are important and are some of the things that you can do to lift a shadowban on Instagram. After all that is done, rethink your strategy and keep an eye on your metrics.

Just don’t expect a change in engagement as soon as the fixes are performed. It may take a few days for your profile to go back to normal.

Were these instructions any helpful?

Did you learn more about shadowban on Instagram? Is this the case for you? Tell us about your experiences with it! Comment down below, let us know!