The majority of social media platforms deny that the shadow ban exists. For example, we tried to be banned from shadows on Instagram but had zero success. However, thousands of people there believe shades exist and are concerned about the consequences.
Whether you believe in social media shadow bans whole-heartedly or want to take a better-safe-than-sorry approach, read on for the lowdown on each platform’s official stance on the matter and best practices for avoiding getting shadowbanned on Instagram or any other social network.
What Is Shadowbanning?
Shadowbanning occurs the case when your activity or posts aren’t displayed on a site, even though you’ve not received an official warning or ban.
It’s a way of letting spammers continue to spam without anyone outside of or outside of the group (or out of the community) watching what they do.
This way, the other social media users aren’t affected by spam since they aren’t able to see the issue. In addition, the spammer will not immediately begin looking for ways to avoid the ban since they aren’t aware they’ve been removed from the site.
If you think there’s a shadowban, changing the website’s search or newsfeed algorithm may be at fault. Since algorithms are the sole property of social media companies, It’s unlikely to be in the best interests to divulge all information about them in public.
However, regardless of whether you’ve been penalized in the wrong way or unintentionally, the result is precisely the same… nobody will be able to view your posts.
Sites That Shadowban
There’s no way to obtain the complete list of websites that have shadowbans since shadowbans aren’t fully visible.
Shadowbanning has been reported under certain conditions on apps and websites such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and many others.
The respondents to a survey titled Posting into the Void identified four general kinds of shadowbans:
- A username or hashtag isn’t being displayed in search suggestions
- A decline in follower engagement
- Specific features (e.g., likes or comments) are being removed
- A temporary ban, which is restored in the future.
Here’s how to determine the difference between shadowbanned and banned on one of the most well-known social media platforms:
Twitter Shadowbanning
Does Twitter have a shadowban on people? It’s true, but it’s not.
In a blog article, Twitter claimed that they do not “deliberately make people’s content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it” and that they “certainly don’t shadowban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”
But, they did mention that it was their policy to “rank tweets and search results” to “address bad-faith actors.” In other words, If Twitter considers that you’re a Troll or spammer, the algorithm will punish your content.
How to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned by Twitter
Twitter lists these as one of the elements they employ to determine if someone is a “bad-faith actor” or not:
- If you’ve verified your email address
- No matter if you’ve posted your profile photo
- When was the last time your account was set up?
- Who do you follow and retweet?
- Who mutes, follows, retweets who blocks, mutes, follows, retweets, and ret
To avoid being shadowbanned on Twitter To avoid being shadowbanned on Twitter, verify the email you use and then upload your profile image.
Don’t send spam to people, and don’t make your posts too promotional. If you’re trying to sell an item or service and posting too many others, you may stop your posts, causing the account to be banned from the shadows.
Also, try to avoid trolling, engaging in online fights, or being too aggressive in your comments and posts. This can cause users to block or mute your posts or comments.
How to Tell If You’re Shadowbanned on Twitter
It’s impossible to know for sure if you’ve been banned from Twitter shadowbans. However, you can consider using the site Shadowban.EU, which claims to be able to identify shadowbans.
Instagram Shadowbanning
What’s it like to put in all the effort creating the Instagram following but then find that your posts don’t seem to be appearing on the feed?
As with Twitter, Instagram’s CEO declared it is “shadowbanning is not a thing” however, like Twitter, it’s not entirely accurate.
Although you may not be getting shadowbans, however, the algorithm could be blocking your posts.
Instagram’s algorithms are designed to block certain types of content. In particular, the algorithm penalizes content Instagram finds to be “inappropriate,” even when the content isn’t in line with Instagram’s Social Guidelines.
Particularly, they refer to sexually suggestive content. In accordance with the Community Guidelines, spammy content, as well as content that is associated with violence or illicit activity, is not allowed.
Instagram favors “photos or videos” that can be used by a broad group of users “… therefore more content that is not suitable for children could be subject to shadowbans.
How to Tell If You’re Shadowbanned on Instagram
There’s no way to know if you’ve been banned from shadowing on Instagram However, some websites claim they’re able to test the issue. Triberr is one possibility.
Reddit Shadowbanning
The practice of shadowbanning users shadowbanning Reddit shadowbanning on Reddit is distinct from shadowbanning on other social media platforms. From 2015 on, Reddit openly shadowbanned users who violated the rules of the site by concealing their posts.
Reddit later declared it had redesigned the shadowbanning mechanism was replaced by an account-suspension system. The idea was that there were some Reddit staff members who believed that the tool used to ban shadows could be useful in combating bots, but the ban on human users who were not giving them the reasons why they did something wrong was unjust.
The site seems to occasionally use shadowbans as well as the shadowban subreddit in operation.
In accordance with their official policy on content, Reddit may enforce its rules through “removal of privileges from, or adding restrictions to, accounts” and through “removal of content,” in addition to other ways.
How to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned on Reddit
To avoid being shadowbanned on Reddit, you must adhere to the rules of Reddit. However, one of the issues with this is that Reddit rules are actually based on the subreddit you’re posting to.
You’ll need to read and discuss extensively before you submit your own hyperlinks. See how users react to different types of posts within a particular subreddit and then respond in a manner that is appropriate.
You may also want to read this non-official guide to learn how to stay clear of being shadowbanned. A few key points:
Don’t over-post or spam links that are too numerous to your content (if you blog much other stuff, posting a couple of hyperlinks to your own work is fine.)
Do not constantly harass or downvote a user.
Do not dox anyone else or encourage the practice of doxing (posting private information of someone without their permission)
Do not post unlawful or offensive content.
Be careful not to abuse moderators or administrators.
How to Tell if You’re Shadowbanned on Reddit
To determine if you’re shadowbanned on Reddit, you need to make an announcement on the subreddit r/ShadowBan. A bot will get back to you, notifying you whether you’ve been shadowbanned.
Even if you aren’t, the bot will let you know the posts you’ve made that have been deleted recently (if there were any).
You can also make use of an external tool, such as Are I Shadowbanned?
TikTok Shadowbanning
TikTok is a very popular social network that allows users to share videos of short duration. However, it is possible to be shadow-banned on the site as well (kind of).
Although there’s not a formal reference to the word “shadowban” in TikTok’s Community Guidelines as with other social media platforms, TikTok uses algorithms to favor certain types of content. If you’re on the opposite side of this algorithm, fewer people will be able to see the content you upload.
To make sure that more people can view your content and avoid penalties, you should try to adhere to the best practices of the recommendation algorithm on TikTok. Always adhere to Guidelines for the Community Guidelines.
Avoid illegal content, including violence, hate speech, spam, and similar subjects.
To determine whether you’ve been banned blocked from shadowbanning on TikTok. Look at your page views and “For You” page statistics. It is also possible to use hashtags and check if your post is showing under that hashtag.
Facebook Shadowbanning
Facebook describes its policy on content moderation as” remove, reduce, and inform.”
The basic principle is that content that violates Facebook’s Community Standards will be removed from the website. Other unsavory content (like inaccurate information) could be hidden on Facebook or may have a warning label applied to it.
If Facebook is constantly “reducing” your content, it could be as a shadowban.
The primary method to cause a shadowban to be triggered on Facebook is sharing links to false or misleading information. The content on Facebook is vetted with an independent group of fact-checking organizations.
Facebook additionally penalizes links on websites that it is deemed to be clickbait. For example, websites with low authority and a low volume of links outbound and inbound that result in a large number of clicking on Facebook could be considered clickbait.
Facebook groups in which many false links and clickbait are often shared could be banned shadowbanned.
If you’re concerned your personal or group page or the business page may have been banned from shadowbanning on Facebook, look for any changes in the number of people who have viewed your most recent posts.
LinkedIn Shadowbanning
Although most people don’t consider getting banned from shadow on LinkedIn, It’s still possible that your content’s reach could be restricted there.
As with other social media platforms, LinkedIn has Community Policies that all users need to be aware of to avoid issues.
Because LinkedIn is a business-oriented site and has strict guidelines for content, it is more stringent than those of other platforms. Therefore, not only must your content be legal, safe, and acceptable, but it also has to be professional too.
While LinkedIn is a site to grow your career and promote yourself, spamming users is an offense.
It is important to respect other people’s privacy and intellectual property rights. It is also important to avoid harassment or inappropriate romantic advances toward other members.
If you are in violation of LinkedIn’s rules, They may “limit the visibility of certain content, or remove it entirely.”
The truth is that it is true that the LinkedIn algorithm is quite complex. Although your material seems top-quality and professional, however, it may not be getting the attention you’d like.
Relevance and engagement are two of the most important things to be aware of when writing material for LinkedIn.
YouTube Shadowbanning
Although it’s not a social media platform, it’s still an online platform that people use to discover and share information. Is it possible to shadowban on YouTube?
It’s true; YouTube shadowbanning has been on the news due to the popular creator PewDiePie. According to his followers, the Swedish YouTuber’s channel for video games was punished for its YouTube search results.
YouTube’s official statement stated that it does not block shadowbanned channels; however certain videos could be flagged as inappropriate and should be reviewed before showing on search results.
When they appeared in an Interview with the Polygon, they stated that they are “currently working on fixing the issue.”
7 Ways to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned on Social Media
Different social media platforms have their views on what violations are worthy of the shadowban. But, we do observe some common trends worth taking note of.
How can I avoid being shadowbanned ?
- Always adhere to the terms of service.
- Follow and follow the most powerful users in your area (see what they share and how they discuss)
- Do not post links or copy-pasted information over and over
- If you’re not sure if the content is suitable, refrain from sharing it.
- Respect others and treat them with respect.
- Use hashtags that aren’t banned.
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