The existence of a shadow ban on Instagram is a mystery. No one knows for sure how it operates or who can fall victim to it. Many users suspect they have been shadow-banned when their reach plummets. But is a decline in reach always a sign of Instagram interference? Or could it be that the content quality has slipped? In this article, we will try to shed some light on these questions and help you figure out if your account is hidden from view.
What is Instagram Shadow Ban?
A shadow ban is a sneaky way of limiting the visibility of an account’s posts. The account owner can still access the network but the posts will not appear in recommendations. Content will be invisible to users searching by geolocation, tags and hashtags. As a result, the account will experience a sharp decline in followers, views and likes.
As of March 2024, Instagram had not officially acknowledged if the shadow ban is a real thing. However, in 2019, the network’s team admitted that some posts were missing from the recommended and hashtagged sections. This was not conclusive evidence but it convinced many users that the ban does exist. The debate among marketers is still ongoing.
The easiest way to detect the problem is to check the “Statistics” section. There, you can spot the moment when your reach starts to plunge. By analysing the reasons behind this drop, you can figure out if your account is shadow-banned.
Why Does Instagram Shadowban Your Account?
Since Instagram has not officially confirmed the existence of the shadow ban, the factors that trigger it are only based on speculation. However, by analysing the experience and data of various accounts, we have compiled a list of possible reasons why an account might be shadow-banned:
Cheating followers by using mass following and mass liking services. This method of attracting an audience to a profile is not explicitly forbidden but Instagram discourages it. Accounts that use mass following get less traffic than those that grow organically.
Using auto posting services. It’s important to note that there is no ban for simply working with such a service, as they make few requests to the network API. However, with such services it’s easy to exceed Instagram’s limits which, in its turn, can result in a penalty.
Using too many hashtags under each post. Especially if they are high-frequency tags (with more than 100,000 results in the search). For example, “#followme” or “#like4like”. As for hashtags, regular users can help Instagram “filter” content. There is a feature called “Don’t show for this hashtag”. If users report a post as irrelevant to the hashtag, the post will be shown less in the recommended posts or removed from there altogether.
Mass unfollowing. We’re not talking about a few dozen subscribers a day who decide to leave the account. We mean hundreds or even thousands of followers a day. This often happens with giveaway followers.
Numerous complaints about the profile. Instagram will take measures to limit the visibility of the profile that receives many reports, regardless of whether it actually posts prohibited material. In practice, this is a viable way to “sabotage” a business rival.
Suspicious activity. Be mindful of the network limits, depending on the age of the account. If the profile was created less than six months ago, don’t give more than 30 likes per hour. If the profile is older than a year, the limit is increased to 60 interactions with content.
The duration of the shadow ban is variable. Some people notice a boost in activity as soon as 3-4 days after its decline and some accounts can remain in the shadows for months. The average ban lasts from 7 to 21 days. The time frame depends on the severity of the violation.
Ways to Check if Your Account is Shadow-banned
If an account is subject to Instagram’s restrictions, a user is not informed. There are only a few ways to verify this suspicion. Below, we will explore how to find out if your profile has been reduced in its visibility
By reviewing the statistics yourself
It’s important to regularly monitor your stats because this way you can track when your reach has decreased. Usually, the number of views drops by more than half. The most obvious sign of the shadow ban is the views from hashtags.
But a decrease in reach alone is not an indication of a shadow ban. It’s just a clue. The user might be posting irrelevant content, taking long breaks between posts or changing the theme of the blog.
By using services
There are online tools that check accounts for shadow bans. You just need to enter a link to the post or the account and the result will be ready in a few minutes. Some examples are LiveDune or HeistSocial. But you can’t trust these results completely because they can’t be confirmed or refuted.
By using a published post
The most reliable way to check is to publish a post and see how it appears in the search. This is how you do it:
Publish the post. Add a new low-frequency hashtag to it. We recommend using a hashtag with no more than 1000 posts.
Ask 5-10 people to check the post’s appearance by the hashtag from their profiles.
Analyse the result. If 2-4 out of 10 people did not see the post, it’s not a shadow ban. These users will have the post at the bottom of the search because they are not interested in such content. But if the post is only seen by 1-2 people or no one at all, then it’s very likely that it’s a shadow ban.
How to Get Rid of Instagram Shadow Ban
When you notice that you are under a shadow ban, you should stop any activity right away. The “break” should last for 2-3 days. During this time, you should try to find out the causes of the ban and avoid them in the future.
The shadow ban cannot be lifted by any action because it is not officially imposed. But it can be reduced by following these guidelines:
Check the hashtags you used in the last 30 days. If they are repeated in posts, you should remove them. This includes comments as well.
Eliminate any user activity. This means no posting, liking, reacting to stories or doing anything else, even though the features will be available. You shouldn’t even reply to messages.
Disconnect any third-party services if they are linked. This is not only about advertising resources but also other services that collect account statistics.
Switch your business account to a personal account or vice versa, saving your statistics beforehand.
After three days of inactivity, start showing minimal activity. First, publish a few posts without hashtags or geolocation. Then make some changes to your profile information. Change your photo or update your user details. The key is to refresh the information.
Use only one device to access your account. Don’t use proxies, utilities, plugins, VPNs or anything else that can mask your IP address.
Postpone launching an ad campaign if you planned to do so at this time and pause any campaign that is already running.
Link your Instagram profile to Facebook and set up two-factor authentication.
Alternatively, contact support to clarify the reason for the restriction. But keep in mind that Instagram support is often slow and there is no guarantee that you will get the information you need. It is easier and faster to deal with the ban yourself.
It’s important to remember that Instagram sets the scope of the restrictions on its own and without any notification. Just because some posts from a restricted profile appear in the feed or the search for some users, it doesn’t mean that the problem is solved. Some filters may still not work. This is extremely hard to determine. So if you have a new profile, it might be easier to delete it, register a new one and promote it from scratch. You can also buy a profile, even one with existing followers. If you have an old, established account with something to lose, the only option is to investigate the reasons and find ways to get rid of the ban.
Shadow Ban and Ordinary Activity Drop: How to Tell the Difference
To learn how to distinguish between a shadow ban and a regular decrease in activity, let’s look at some examples. We’ll start with a shadow ban.
Example 1. Jim is a psychologist who runs a blog with 30,000 followers. His new posts are consistently viewed by 5,000-7,000 people. His engagement is proportional — his followers like his posts, save and share them with their friends. However, Jim is not satisfied with his follower count and wants to increase it, thinking that “more followers, better sales”.
To attract more followers, Jim participates in a giveaway. The rules of the contest are to follow all the sponsors. The winner gets an iPhone 14. Hundreds of people join the contest and follow Jim.
Jim’s expectations are met, he gets a surge of followers. His activity grows, his posts get more likes. But as soon as the giveaway ends, people start unfollowing Jim, also by the hundreds. Because of the sudden spike and drop of followers, Jim’s geolocation stops working, his reach declines, and so do his sales. His reach can fall by 10 times or more in such a scenario. Jim used to get 5,000-7,000 likes for each post but now he barely gets 100. His posts are no longer recommended to other users and new users are reluctant to follow him. This is what a shadow ban looks like.
Example 2. The owner of a cosmetology school came across an invitation to an engagement group.
She joined, and now follows the tasks. She regularly likes the posts, leaves comments and saves them in her account. She also shares her posts in the group chat. This is how she starts her journey to a shadow ban.
The school owner’s expectations: potential followers will find her courses effective and professional and decide to enroll. After all, there is evidence of audience interest — likes and comments. But in reality, Instagram’s algorithms have “detected” that there is artificial activity on the account. Because of this, the system reduces the visibility of new posts. This is also a shadow ban.
Now let’s look at some scenarios where a drop in reach is not a sign that an account has been shadow-banned.
Example 1. A clothing store hired an SMM manager. He created a six-month content plan and agreed on discount periods with the owner. He also designed a template for the photos to be taken by the sales consultants, indoors and outdoors. The results are shown in the screenshot.
After the SMM manager was fired, the owner of the store took over the feed management. The content became dull and repetitive. Gradually, users lost interest and engagement decreased. The growth of followers stopped, as well as the number of likes.
This is not a shadow ban. The owner needs to revise her marketing strategy and create a content plan with stylish visuals.
Example 2. One of the 2024 Instagram trends is to minimise information overload with increased relevance. Bloggers are increasingly taking breaks from stories, such as 1-2 days a week.
Following this trend, aspiring blogger Christina, after reaching an audience of 10,000 followers, went on “insta detox” for a month. When she came back after 30 days, the expected spike of interest in how she had spent the month was not there. Restoring her reach to previous levels proved impossible.
Instagram doesn’t reserve “free space” in users’ recommended posts. Without regular content, there is no blogger. Activity will have to be built up again from scratch. Detox periods from social media can only work for mega bloggers with millions of followers. But they also have to regain their reach. Christina’s situation is not a shadow ban.
How to Boost Your IDoT — Instagram’s Trust Factor
IDoT stands for Instagram Degree of Trust, a metric that measures how reliable and authentic your account is. The algorithms use this metric to rank your profile and decide how much exposure it gets. The IDoT scale ranges from 0 to 10, where 0 means a ban, 1-3 means a shadow ban, and higher means a moderate to high level of trust. To score high on the IDoT scale, your page should meet the following criteria:
It should be at least a year old;
It should have 100,000 followers or more;
It should have at least 5 comments on each post. The system assumes that pages that meet these criteria are run by real users, not bots. You can also increase your IDoT by following the network rules, creating relevant and engaging content, growing your audience organically and avoiding complaints about your profile. On the other hand, you can lose points on the IDoT scale if you engage in practices that violate Instagram policies. These include shady and black-hat promotion methods such as:
spamming, mass messaging, mass following;
using VPNs and other tools to hide your real IP address.
These practices are not only risky because they can get you shadow-banned. They also attract fake or uninterested followers who won’t buy your product or service. There is no point in having a huge fan base if they don’t care about what you offer.
How to Work with Instagram Effectively and Safely
If you want to succeed on Instagram, you need to follow simple but essential rules. Here are some practical tips to help you make the most of the platform!
Say no to spam
Spamming is a sign of desperation and ignorance of basic marketing strategies. It annoys users, lowers your reach and damages your credibility. You don’t have to send unsolicited messages, post too frequently or join random giveaways.
Create high-quality content
Great content is the best way to attract and retain a loyal audience. To create such content, you need to have passion and expertise. You also need to understand the interests, challenges and desires of your audience and offer solutions to their problems through your product or service.
Instagram is a place for creativity and diversity. You don’t want to bore your followers with a bland and repetitive feed. “Polished” visuals are outdated. Post videos, quizzes, polls, behind-the-scenes, team activities, leisure time and other aspects of your real business life — there are endless possibilities for stories.
Avoid illegal promotion methods
We already mentioned that using click-farms, mass-following and other shady tactics is a bad idea. Some profiles do it wisely — they bring in a small number of followers per day and respect the limits. But this is not a viable option either. A profile full of bots will eventually get shadow-banned or permanently restricted.
Respect the limits
Instagram has set limits for all user actions. You should be especially careful with these limits if your profile is less than six months old. Here are the specific numbers of interactions you should follow:
Type of interaction | Accounts (>6 months) | Accounts (<6 months) | Recommendations |
Stories | Up to 40 per day | Up to 20 per day | Stories should captivate users, not bore them with redundant information |
Likes | Up to 60 per hour | Up to 30 per hour | Too much of anything is spam |
Comments | Up to 60 per hour | Up to 30 per hour | Same as likes |
Following and unfollowing | Up to 60 per hour | Up to 30 per hour | You should wait at least 30 seconds between each unfollow action. Note: Following and unfollowing are counted together. If you followed or unfollowed up to 60 accounts in half an hour, you can only do it again after an hour |
Direct messages | Conversations with followers — up to 100 per day, with non-followers — up to 30 | Same | |
Posting | Up to 9 per day | Up to 3 per day |
These are the limits. But sometimes one post or ten stories are enough to boost user engagement. The key is not the quantity but the quality.
Follow Instagram’s rules
Instagram has a set of rules that users must abide by. You can find them in the Terms of Use section. It’s accessible from your account settings.
You should pay attention to these rules and not violate them. The system will warn you and hold you accountable for any infringement. Your account may be blocked.
Some examples of Instagram rules are:
You must be at least 13 years old to use the platform;
You must not post any photos with violent scenes, partial or full nudity, porn, illegal materials;
You must not defame, insult, harass or impersonate anyone. Stalking is forbidden.
Instagram also takes copyright infringement seriously. You can learn more about the platform’s rules at the help center.
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