Definition of shadowban on social media and how to overcome it. Have you ever suddenly realized that there is no activity appearing on your social media accounts? Some of us must be confused by events like this.
Every website or social media platform does experience this sometimes, server maintenance can also be the cause. However, another possibility is that your account has been or has been shadowbanned.
If you don’t understand shadowban, you can read our article to the end. Apart from that, here we also provide a way to avoid this problem.
Definition of shadowban on social media
Shadowban is an effort or effort made by social media platform developers, to keep their applications safe, good, and clean from unwanted things. It can even be said to prevent users from abusing or violating community guidelines.
This form of abuse can be intentional or not, there are various kinds of abuse that occur. For example, users upload inappropriate content, abuse accounts, or spam other people’s accounts.
There are four (4) kinds of shadowban that you should know
The term shadowban has actually been known since 2006, but lately many users have come back complaining about it. Accounts that are shadowbanned are automatically categorized in hidden mode so that the content in them cannot be found by anyone.
Each social media has its own considerations regarding account blocking as quoted from neilpatel.com. Please refer to some of the points below.
Shadowban on Twitter social media app
Twitter does not block relatives or other users based on their political point of view or ideology, but if the user does the following.
- Brother’s Twitter account reported by some users
- Users often change account names
- Doing repeated tweets so that it is considered spam
- Tagging too many other users in a tweet
- The account is considered not to follow other policies that have been set by Twitter
Shadowban on Instagram social media app
Currently, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms and is most affected by being shadowbanned. Instagram can block an account if the user does the following.
- Brother’s Instagram account was reported for infringement
- Using banned hashtags
- Using bots or services that violate Instagram’s terms and conditions
- Your account is experiencing a large spike in activity indicating fraudulent activity you exceed the daily or hourly limit set by Instagram
Even if your account doesn’t violate Instagram’s community guidelines, Instagram’s algorithm can still hide certain posts because it’s designed to remove content it deems “inappropriate”.
For example, sexually suggestive content, spammy content, and content related to illegal or violent activities. Instagram prefers photos or videos that suit its diverse audience.
Therefore, try not to use content that is less friendly or disturbing to all people, because it will risk getting shadowban.
Shadowban on social media app Facebook
Facebook calls its content moderation policy “delete, reduce, and inform.” Basically, content that violates Facebook’s Community Guidelines will be removed from the site, while other unwanted content (such as misleading information) will be made less visible or have a warning label on it.
The main thing that can cause your Facebook account to be shadowbanned is sharing links that contain false or misleading information. Any content uploaded on Facebook will be verified by an independent fact-checking organization. Facebook’s algorithm can also block links from websites that are considered clickbait.
Shadowban on social media app TikTok
TikTok is a popular social network used for sharing short videos. Unfortunately, your account may still be shadowbanned on this platform.
While there is no official mention of the term “shadowban” in TikTok’s Community Guidelines, like other social media networks, TikTok also uses algorithms to categorize certain content.
If you upload content that doesn’t conform to the algorithm, fewer people will see your content. The same will happen if you upload content that contains illegal material, violence, hate speech, spam, and other similar topics.
How to overcome shadowban on social media accounts
You must agree and must comply with any laws or community guidelines for each platform you use in order to avoid shadowban. Below we have provided several ways to avoid shadowban problems.
Don’t violate community guidelines
All social media platforms have community guidelines to help keep content under control. Generally, these guidelines prohibit the illegal activity, hate speech, pornography, or misleading information. If you explicitly violate any of these things, chances are your social media accounts will be blocked immediately or all of your content posts will be deleted.
However, if you upload content that falls in a gray area — not explicitly against the rules, but not completely safe for all audiences — your content is also at risk of being downgraded or hidden.
Don’t act like a bot (robot)
Using irrelevant hashtags, using too many hashtags, following a group of people in a short amount of time, or commenting on too many posts too quickly are bot-like behaviors and usually social media platforms will block the account.
To prevent your account from being blocked, make sure the profile listed looks like a real person (or a legitimate brand) by filling in all relevant fields, having an appropriate profile picture, and using a real email address in the contact info.
Don’t use banned hashtags
Often popular hashtags are used by inappropriate content and if you use the same hashtags, your content will not appear in searches. In fact, it could even result in your account being blocked by social media platforms. There’s no official list of blocked hashtags, but a Google search will reveal plenty of sites that can track this sort of thing.
Don’t spam
Writing the same link over and over again or sharing content over and over again can trigger a shadowban. In addition, it can also trigger suspicion from your account followers. Stick to interesting content in order to maximize user engagement or engagement.
Don’t make fake engagements
Fraudulent engagement that arises from buying and selling followers can potentially lead to shadowbans. When suddenly you have 3,000 new fans from Russia who follow within an hour and leave the same comment, social media algorithms will judge it as something suspicious is going on. Therefore, it’s better to avoid this instant method if you don’t want your account to be blocked.
If you think you’ve been shadowbanned, report the block via social media help centers, remove any unauthorized third-party apps, review the hashtags listed, then first stop all activity on the platform for a few days while waiting for your account to be restored.
Definition of Shadowban on Social Media and How to Overcome it. Avoiding shadowban is actually a simple thing and very possible to do. Start by creating authentic and useful content that makes other users happy to see it. In addition, also follow the community guidelines that have been set by each platform.
