How to know if instagram shadowbanned you

How To Check If Your Instagram Is Shadowbanned In 2022

As someone who makes a living from my Instagram small businesses and teaches others how to do it as well, one of the questions I most often receive from my readers is: “My Instagram stopped growing and is losing followers. I’m worried shadowbanned. What can I do?” If you’re reading this article because you’re asking yourself a similar question, I have good and bad news for you. The good news is that there’s an easy and reliable way that you can directly check if you’re shadowbanned that doesn’t require you to resort to a sketchy “Instagram shadowban test” website that’s likely to sell you services to fix a problem you don’t have. The bad news is that the great majority of people whose accounts stopped growing or are losing followers aren’t shadowbanned and their lack of growth is due to other more difficult issues to fix issues (we’ll get into them later.) But before you check if you’re Instagram is actually shadowbanned, it’s important to note that there is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about shadowbanning out there so it’s worthwhile to get clear the basic concepts of how it currently works on Instagram. Here are a few of the basic concepts I consider are worthwhile clarifying:

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What is an Instagram shadowban?

An account is shadowbanned on Instagram when the company itself places a “flag” on an account to limit that account’s reach. In other words, it uses the Instagram algorithm to greatly limit how often that account’s content is surfaced on the home screens of their followers as well as on hashtag feeds and explorer pages of non-followers so very few (if any) people are able to view that account unless they search for it directly.

How does an account get shadowbanned?

Instagram shadowbans an account only when others users report that account or it’s content as inappropriate (regardless of the report’s fairness).

Instagram does not share the information of how often/frequently an account needs to be reported in order to be shadowbanned (the requirements likely constantly change).

Being reported is the only clearly verified cause for being shadowbanned by Instagram (I know because it happened to me. )

An account definitely begins losing followers when it is shadowbanned but losing followers is not proof that an account has been shadowbanned. There are many much more likely reasons to lose followers on Instagram that aren’t being shadowbanned.

It’s important to note that there are many people who believe that Instagram directly shadowbans accounts that they “don’t like”. There is absolutely no proof of this and it’s very unlikely that they would do this. Instagram exists to maximize profits by maximizing the amount of time we spend looking at their screen. Controversial/outrageous/racy content is the most effective at keeping us looking at the screen for longer and therefore maximzing their profits so they are highly incentivized to keep as much of this type of content on their platform unless its deemed harmful by the community and therefore, reported.

This is why Instagram use the reporting function as the trigger for shadowbanning. It delegates to the users the responsibility of deciding what content is shadowbanned so Instagram doesn’t have to.

How to check if you’re shadowbanned?

Because Instagram gives no access to your account's reported status, the only way to check if you’ve been shadowbanned is to use your Instagram Insights or any other follower growth tracker to review how quickly your account went from gaining followers to losing followers.

If your account went from consistently gaining followers to suddenly losing followers permanently from one day to the next, your account likely got reported by other users and you are shadowbanned by Instagram. It happened to me, and it would likely look something like this in your Instagram Insights:

If your follower change was not sudden and sharp and it gradually went from gaining followers to simply not growing to losing them over months or years, you’re not shadowbanned. This also happened to me and it’ll look like this if you map out your followers through an account growth tracking third party tool, like I did with onlypult:

Having sprouts of follower growth during the general period of lack of growth (like the image above) is another way to know that you’re not shadowbanned. Being shadowbanned by Instagram is mostly permanent and does not go away over time.

How to fix your shadowban?

The only way to get a confirmed shadowbanned removed by Instagram is through contacting their customer service and challenging the validity of why your account got reported.

You can read the full and detailed account of how I did it in this article, but in summary, you’ll have to have a business account in order to contact Instagram’s support team, tell them your account was reported and that you’d like to challenge that report. After that, they’ll ask you for photographic proof of why you’re in the right by challenging it.

If you’re able to provide sufficient proof that your account was unjustly reported and shadowbanned then you’ll likely be able to get the shadowban removed by their customer support team.

If your content did in fact break Instagrams community safety guidelines, you might not be able to get the shadowbanned removed.

If you’re verified that your account is indeed shadowbanned due to reporting, I’d advice against paying anyone who can claim to remove the shadowban from your account. Unless it’s someone who works at Instagram, there’s no way a third-party can technically remove a shadowban unless it’s by talking to Instagram’s customer support.

If your account wasn’t reported and shadowbanned, why are you losing followers?

If your account wasn’t reported and shadowbanned but you’re still losing followers please know that you’re not alone. This is happening to more and more people on Instagram and it’s because you’ve either inorganically gained Instagram followers in the past or that your Instagram niche is in its decline phase or that your audience’s tastes have changed but your account hasn’t. You can check out my article about all of these topics to learn more about then and how to fix them but please know that these are all much more likely reasons to be losing followers than being shadowbanned.

It’s important to be able to verify or dismiss the fact that your follower decline is due to a shadowban because continuing to think that you’re losing followers because of a shadowban, when you’re not, only distracts you from being able to get to the bottom of your problems and working towards resolving them.

Hope you find this helpful and remember, growing on Instagram isn’t about being “cool” or social or even creative (in a traditional sense), it’s about learnings to execute the activities that lead to growth. Anyone can do it!

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PS — If you have to use Instagram for your business or work or personal reason, treat it as a tool and spend time researching what Instagram really is, how the Instagram algorithm works, and focus on learning about activities that you need to do to have a well-executed and “successful” Instagram (specifically, being able to create engaging Instagram content, a differentiated Instagram grid, posting consistently, or using an Instagram bot to automate the time-consuming but effective tactic of maximizing your daily interactions). If you can, use it as little as possible and spend your time on other activities that bring you well-being.

3 Simple Steps To Check If You’re Shadowbanned on Instagram — What Shadowbanning Is, What Causes It, And How To Fix The Problem. | by Eduardo Morales

Has your Instagram reach and engagement significantly and suddently declined recently? Are you worried that you’ve been shadowbanned?

Before we begin, take a deep breath and relax. In most cases, a decline in engagement and growth is usually due to a recent change in the Instagram algorithm (check out my article about Is Instagram dying? to learn more about why), not shadowbanning but given Instagram’s recent implementation of automated content take-down and shadowbans, it’s something that more accounts are experiencing every day (it happened to me a few months back despite not breaking any of Instagram’s Community Guidelines. You can read the story of how Instagram upheld the censoring of a black body on my account here).

If you’re worried that you’re shadowbanned, but don’t know how to check if you are, the first thing to do is test it yourself and avoid the hundreds of “shadowban testers” out there. More of then than not, they are trying to sell you quick “fixes” and fake results to scare you into buying something.

Here’s how you do it:

First off, it’s important to know what shadowbanning actually means.

Your account is shadowbanned when your content is surfaced to a lesser degree or not surfaced at all in Instagram’s surfacing channels (The Home Page, Explorer Page, and Hashtag Feeds of other users).

This greatly reduces your reach because no one outside of your current followers will discover your account, follow you or engage with your content.

Here are three simple steps to check if you’ve been Shadowbanned:

Find someone with an Instagram account that doesn’t follow you.
Post on your Instagram account using the hashtags you regularly use.
Ask the person who doesn’t follow you to quickly check the feeds of the hashtags that you tagged on your post.

If your post doesn’t appear the first time, don’t panic, check again 3–5 minutes later. Connectivity isn’t always reliable and that can affect the timing in which a post shows up on a hashtag feed.

(***Important note: Posts are shown on a hashtag feed in chronological order. This means that the larger the number of posts in the feed of a hashtag, the faster the person who doesn’t follow you will have to check that feed. For example, in a popular hashtag like #fashion (with over 600 million posts), your post can be pushed down in a feed far enough to be “undiscoverable” within less than a few seconds. If you’re using one of these big hashtags, I’d advise you to change your strategy and use more relevant and niche Instagram hashtags anyway.)

If your post shows up on the hashtag feeds of the person who doesn’t follow you, you are not shadowbanned.

If your posts don’t show up on the hashtag feeds of the person who doesn’t follow you (even after checking twice), you are shadowbanned.

Another way to check is to view your Instagram Insights every day and look out for a sudden and sustained drop in the number of followers that you get.

This is how I identified my shadowban and the drop in followers didn’t stop until I was able to get in touch with Instagram’s Customer Support team and have a post that was taken down re-instated.

Note, this technique to check is usually more effective if you’ve had sustain growth for a long time and the drop in followers is SUDDEN and sustained. If that’s the case, it’s usually due to being reported and reaching Instagram’s reporting threshold.

But before we begin, let’s tackle some myths: Banned hashtags aren’t a thing. Really, they aren’t. Check these on Instagram for yourself. None of them are “banned”. Also, shadowban testers (like this one or this one) aren’t accurate. They exist because people are scared of being shadowbanned and they can leverage that to sell you stuff. If you’re worried about being shadowbanned or that one day Instagram will decide to actually enforce banned hashtags, you can easily check it yourself. It’ll save you from unnecessarily spending money on services you don’t need.

Now that we have that clear, here are the likely reasons behind your shadowbanning:

Btw, have you every asked yourself if your Instagram is actually even worth growing? If not, you should. It might help save you a whole bunch of time and energy. It’s not worth it for everyone…

You or one of the posts you made was reported as “Innapropriate” content.

Sadly, Instagram automated the process of taking down posts and shadowbanning accounts that have been reported as “Innapropriate” enough times to reach their reporting threshold, regardless of whether or not they break their Community Guidelines. This is how my account was shadowbanned.

How to fix it: You can’t fix this type of shadowban unless you get in touch with Instagram’s Customer Support team, which is very difficult. Here’s a guide on how I was able to contact them. To have the highest likelihood of having your account un-shadowbaned, you should take as many screenshots as possible that prove that your account was unjustly reported.

You are using an Instagram automation service (otherwise known as an Instagram bot) that isn’t safe and/or using automation settings that caused your account to be flagged.

Most people think that using an automation service (bot) means getting shadowbanned. That’s not necessarily true. I (and thousands of other accounts) have used a well-automated Instagram automation service through a safe provider to grow my reach for years and I’ve never been shadowbanned. You get shadowbanned if your automation service provider isn’t well-run (using servers and settings that put your account at risk) and/or if your settings surpass Instagram’s interaction thresholds per hour (for example, Instagram allows an account to do X amount of “likes” per hour, but the exact numbers are always kept secret).

How to fix it: If you’re worried that your automation provider is the problem, stop using it. If you still want to use one but want to make sure that it’s safe, choose a service provider that sets you up with your own private VPN upon signup and is run by a team invested in keeping your account safe. To make sure that your automation settings don’t raise any flags, also make sure to use an automation service that has automated activity settings. They are managed by the team who creates the product and they are put in place to make sure that their users aren’t flagged (which puts the service at risk).

Your account is getting reported by your audience.

Here’s how your audience can report your posts. People can report you if they consider your posts are harmful or just because they want you to get flagged. If a post gets enough reports, Instagram will take it down and you run the risk of being flagged as a harmful or spammy account.

Instagram is committed to keeping their community safe, so highly-reported content is the first line of defense when it comes to flagging an account for behavior that might harm someone. If your account is flagged for harmful behavior, Instagram will be highly incentivized to not surface your content.

How to fix it: Each account and audience is different when it comes to what they report, but if you consider that a particular type of content that you’re posting might cause your audience to report you, stop posting that content. No piece of content is worth the risk of being flagged.

After making these changes, check again if you’re shadowbanned: If you’re still Shadowbanned after a week, contact Facebook’s customer service and tell them that your posts aren’t showing up on hashtags (include screenshots with proof). They’re very helpful if you’re not currently violating their Terms of Service.

The Instagram algorithm changed.

Btw, here’s an article about the best Instagram content scheduling and post automation tools. Using them will help your posting process a lot more efficient 👍🏽

Instagram is an advertising company and they make money from keeping you on the app as long as possible to sell your attention to advertisers. The algorithm exists to show you the posts that they consider you are most likely to engage with first, and it’s constantly being tweaked. If Instagram considers that your posts aren’t likely to engage your followers in comparison to all of the other posts available (view the graphic above to see how this works), the algorithm will show your posts to a smaller percentage of your audience. This will result in a lower reach because fewer people are seeing your posts, which sometimes causes some people to worry about being shadowbanned when they aren’t.

Your content has become stale.

How many times have you followed an account that you love only to find that six months down the line you’re kinda bored of their content and just stop paying attention and liking their posts? If you’ve felt this way, so do most other Instagram users. It’s natural for accounts that have been around for a while to see declining engagement rates, just because people are used to them on their feed and/or because they don’t constantly keep their content exciting and engaging. This decline in engagement means that Instagram will downgrade your content on the home feed of your followers, and that lowers your reach. This leads some of us to think that we might be shadowbanned when we’re not.

How to fix it: The best way to keep your content from getting stale is to constantly test new types of photos/videos/captions that your audience might like and then measure the engagement of those new posts. If they receive above-average engagement, your audience is telling you they connect with that content through their objective behavior (more likes & comments = stronger connection). You should improve that type of content and continue to post it. If they receive low engagement, stop posting that type of content. Continue this process and over time you’ll optimize your content for posts and videos that your audience connects with the most. It’s important to measure your engagement to know what your audience likes and not rely on what you think they like. I’ve heard countless people tell me “I take great photos, but no one likes them”. If no one likes it, then it’s likely not a great photo for your Instagram, regardless of how you feel about it. Here’s an in-depth article about a simple system to increase your engagement rate that will help you.

People are using Instagram differently.

Instagram has been around for many years now and they have saturated the US market. This means that users (your followers) are beginning to change the way they use the app. Although Instagram provides no data about this, I know from a first-hand source that, like any other business, Instagram also suffers from seasonal changes in the way their customers (users) use the product. People tend to engage with home feeds less and stories more, people tend to follow fewer people, some people use the app less. All of these changes can affect your reach and engagement, not because of the algorithm or a shadowban.

How to fix it: In regards to this one, be kind to yourself and stop worrying about it. If you’re already in the process of testing and optimizing for your posts’ engagement, there’s literally nothing you can do about how Instagram’s users change the way they use the app, so it’s best not to worry about it too much. It’s changing now and it’ll continue to change for as long as the app exists.

There it is. Now you know what Shadowbanning means, how to check for it, what the likely causes of them are, and how to fix them — now it’s up to you to make the necessary changes, stop worrying about it, and enjoy your life :)

If you want to dive deeper into sustainable strategies to grow your Instagram, read this article on what Instagram really is and how works, how the Instagram algorithm works, Instagram niches and why they are the key to growth, how to pick the right Instagram username, Instagram bots 2021, the best Instagram bots, everything you need to know about TikTok Bots, how to automate an Instagram bot that isn’t spammy, and how to create effective Instagram sponsored posts.

Hope it helps!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my article! If you enjoyed it, you can support me by signing up to my Instagram Small Business class, sharing this article and giving it a bunch of claps. You can also follow me on Instagram to get updates whenever I publish a new piece ❤

How to understand that you are blocked on Instagram: 5 ways | ichip.ru

At first glance, it will not be possible to understand that you are blocked on Instagram, but if you check the search and carefully look at the feed, you can find out exactly who added your account to the blacklist. In this guide, we will show you step by step what exactly needs to be done.

If your Instagram account has been blocked by another user, you will no longer be able to find their profile in the search. Thus, if you enter the appropriate name, you simply will not see it in the results. However, this situation can also arise if the wanted person simply deleted his account.

Step 1.

Checking if the profile is active

To check if the profile of the person who supposedly blocked you still exists, try to find it through a browser (for example, from a computer) by logging out of your account. If the search was successful, and the account you are looking for is displayed in the results of Insta, then you have been blocked.

If the person who blocked you has an open profile, then you can go to his page offline and view his posts and comments. In the case of closed accounts, the situation is more complicated - in them you will not be able to see publications and subscribers, but only their number.

Step 2: Are publications visible?

The second step that will help you find out if you are blacklisted by an Instagram user is to check his feed. If images that were available to you until recently suddenly disappeared from his page, most likely, the person did not delete all publications, but simply stopped showing them to you - in other words, he blocked you. Stories will also disappear.

Step 3. Check the list of subscriptions

After blocking, the user's profile will not appear in your list of subscriptions and subscribers. It is very easy to check this - by searching in your own account. If the right person “unsubscribed”, and at the same time all other signs indicate that he threw you into a ban, most likely it is. Your account will also stop being subscribed to the blocker's profile.

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Step 4. Looking for direct messages

When you block someone on Instagram, the app doesn't hide the following from your direct message. But any new messages that you try to send will not reach the recipient and will not be marked as viewed. At the same time, the user with whom you are in an emergency will also not be able to use the chat with you.

Step 5. Trying to follow

If you are blocked, you will not be able to follow this person, even if you send him a request. In this case, the "Subscribe" button will be active. But pressing it will not work, even if the profile is open, and the user does not have to confirm applications for adding to subscriptions.

On the Internet, you can find many utilities and applications that supposedly can check if you have been blocked. We strongly advise against using them as they can access your account and registration information, spy on other data, and hack into your profile.

See also:

How to unblock Instagram if it was blocked for some reason
How to recover an Instagram account after deletion or if you forgot your password

How to find out who blocked me on Instagram

Content

1 How to know if you were blocked on Instagram
- 1. 1 Unfollowing
- 1.2 Subscribers, subscriptions and publications
- 1.3 Message in Direct
- 1.4 Checking the profile for existence
2 Is it possible to see the full list of those who blocked you

time. But what if you were on the other side of the barricades - blocked you? How to unambiguously recognize this on Instagram? There are a number of signs that indicate that you are blacklisted.

How to know that you have been blocked on Instagram

Unlike some other social networks (for example, VK or Facebook), Instagram does not give a blocked user an unambiguous indication that he is on the black list. If you, being blocked from someone, go to his page, you will see the "Subscribe" button and a message stating that there are no publications yet. Therefore, in order to verify our suspicions or dispel them, let's go through a number of signs that indicate that you are on the black list.

You will not see any posts on the page of the person who blocked you

Unfollowing

Did you previously follow this person, but was he following you? After you are added to the black list, this mutual subscription will stop. The user will automatically unfollow you and will also be removed from your subscriptions. Therefore, if you do not remember that you unsubscribed on your own, then this sign should already make you wary.

Even though there is a "Subscribe" button on the page of the blocker, the actual subscription after clicking on it will not occur. The user won't even see your subscription request.

Followers, subscriptions and publications

On the page of the person who blacklisted you, you will see the number of publications, subscriptions and subscribers. However, this data itself will not be displayed - the publication feed will be empty, and if you try to tap on subscribers or subscriptions, then there will also be no one there.

If you go to the list of subscribers of the blocked person, it will be empty there - even if their number was displayed on the main page, not equal to zero

Direct message

You can send a Direct message even if the person has blacklisted you. But it will not reach - the other user will not receive notifications about it, and it will not appear in his dialog. Therefore, you will never see "Read" marks next to the message.

Checking the profile for existence

But sometimes all these "symptoms" can only indicate that a person's profile is in the process of being deleted. To make sure that the user has not deleted his page, you can use third-party services, for example, the web.stagram website. It copies data from Instagram and allows you to watch publications without registration. If the profile is deleted from the social network, then it will not be displayed on the site in the search.

By the way, this method will allow you to follow the publications of the person who blocked you without creating a second account, but only on condition that the profile you are interested in is not closed.

Is it possible to see the full list of those who blocked you

Unfortunately, Instagram does not provide such an opportunity.