The Instagram shadowban — What is it? Why is it? How do you avoid it?
Not an official practice that Instagram is willing to admit to, a shadowban is when your page gets deprioritized. This will be due to something that you posted that went against Instagram guidelines. Basically, Instagram hides and restricts your posts from the public.
The Shadowban Path
Your posts stop getting any reach > You stop getting found by new people > Your pages stop growing > No customers/clients
How Does This Happen
Usually something you posted was frowned upon by the Instagram gods and they determined they couldn’t ban you completely, so this was their best bet. This could be anything from buying fake followers/engaement to commenting on too many posts in a short period of time. Instagram will also shadowban accounts for following and unfollowing a large number of accounts too quickly, using certain hashtags, and any kind of inappropriate content.
What Instagram Does NOT Like
- Content depicting violence
- Graphic or shocking content
- Sexually suggestive content
- Posts with misinformation
- Spam messages
If you avoid the above your account should continue to reach new audiences. If you think your account may have been shadowbanned, you can easily check your account status/quality within the app.
Check Instagram Account Status
- Visit your profile
- Tap ‘Settings’
- Tap ‘Account’
- Tap ‘Account Status’
Here Instagram will tell you if you have posted anything that went against their guidelines and if it’s impacting your account.
Remove an Instagram Shadowban
If you have found that you have been shadownbanned by Instagram, you can do a few things to reverse the decison.
- Stop posting content that goes against Instagram terms and services
- Revoke permission from any third-party apps (IMPORTANT!)
- Don’t act like a bot and spam random accounts with messages
- Don’t use restricted hashtags
- Contact Instagram support
- Take a little Instagram break
Bottom line, shadowband suck, especially since the Instagram denies they even do it. If this is happening to you, just give it some time and when you notice your engagement coming back — proceed with caution.
