How To Know If You Have Been Shadowbanned? And How To Avoid It?

Shadowbanning is a practice used by social media platforms like X (Twitter), Reddit, or Instagram, to limit the visibility of certain content or accounts. This can be frustrating and confusing for users. In this article we will see how to know if you have been shadowbanned and how to avoid it.

What Is Shadowbanning?

Shadowbanning is a practice where a user's content on a social media platform or online community is subtly blocked or visibility is reduced without any notification to the user. This means that the content, like posts or comments, becomes less visible to other users, often appearing as if the content simply isn't performing well or isn't being engaged with. In some cases the content is also completely hidden. The key characteristic of shadowbanning is its secret nature; the user might not realize they've been shadowbanned because they can still post and engage with the platform as usual, but their reach or influence is significantly diminished or even completely anihiliated.

The term has evolved to encompass various forms of content moderation where the visibility of content is manipulated. This can include:

• • Demoting or Downranking: Where content is less likely to appear in feeds or search results due to it being flagged for various reasons like misinformation or low quality.
• • Engagement Throttling: Here, the platform might limit how often or to whom the content is shown, reducing engagement like likes, shares, or comments.
• • Ghosting or Stealth Banning: The user's contributions become invisible or much less prominent to others, but they can still see their own posts, leading to a lack of engagement without understanding why.

The reasons behind shadowbanning can vary:

• • Content Moderation: To manage content that treads close to violating community standards without completely removing it or banning the user, thereby avoiding direct confrontation or appeals.
• • Spam and Troll Management: To discourage spammers or trolls by reducing the impact of their actions without them immediately noticing, potentially leading them to lose interest.
• • Algorithmic Errors or Bias: Sometimes, algorithms might unintentionally reduce visibility due to misclassification of content or user behavior.
• • Platform Policies: Platforms might reduce visibility of content deemed sensationalist, clickbait, or not aligning with the platform's desired content quality or type.

Users often discuss shadowbanning when they notice a significant and unexplained drop in engagement, suggesting that their content isn't reaching their audience as it used to. However, platforms might not officially acknowledge shadowbanning in the terms users describe it; instead, they might refer to these practices under more technical or less controversial terms like "freedom of speech, not reach," indicating that while you can post freely, the platform is not obligated to amplify your content.

The existence and specifics of shadowbanning practices are often debated, with platforms sometimes denying the use of "shadowbans" as users describe them, attributing changes in content visibility to algorithmic adjustments or content quality issues.

Which Social Media Platforms Engage In Shadowbanning?

Determining which social media platforms engage in shadowbanning can be challenging, as the practices are often not explicitly disclosed, but some platforms are known for applying shadowbanning. For example, here are some platforms that are known for applying shadowbanning:

• • X (Twitter): X has been known to implement strict content moderation policies, including shadowbanning for certain types of content or accounts.
• • Reddit: Reddit has strict community guidelines and can implement shadowbanning for violating these guidelines.
• • Instagram: Instagram has strict policies against spam, scams, and other forms of abusive behavior, which might lead to shadowbanning for certain accounts.

Platforms like Linkedin, on the other hand, do not seem to engage in shadowbanning. Instead they will easily ban your account for breaking their rules.

How to Know If You Have Been Shadowbanned?

Shadowbanning is a tricky practice, as the user experience is not impacted. You can still post, comment, and engage with the platform as usual.

However, there are some reliable ways to check if you have been shadowbanned.

On platforms like Reddit, the content you post is supposed to be publicly visible on the internet. In order to check if you are shadowbanned, create a new post or comment, and then log out of Reddit. Once you are logged out, check if the post or comment is visible to you. If it's not, you are likely shadowbanned.

On platforms like X or Instagram, the content you create is not always publicly visible on the internet. In that case, you should create a second account on the platform to check if the content you created with your first account is visible. You should also check advanced features like search. For example on X if your content is not returned by a search request, it might also be a sign that you have been shadowbanned.

How to Avoid Shadowbanning?

Shadowbanning is usually the consequence of breaking the rules of the platform. In order to avoid shadowbanning, make sure to comply with the terms of service of the platform.

For example, try to limit self-promotion and do not spam the platform with too many posts. Also, be careful when including links in your posts as most social media platforms do not like that.

In general social media platforms apply much more agressive shadowbanning on new accounts. Therefore if you recently created your account, do not post too much content too quickly.

If you often post content that is neither liked nor reposted by other users, the platform might also find it suspicious and apply shadowbanning to your account.

Last of all, shadowbanning can also occur if several users report your content.

If you think your account has been shadowbanned, you can try to contact the platform's support team to appeal the decision, but this is very unlikely to work as social media platforms usually do not disclose information about shadowbanning to users.

In general shadowbanning can disappear after some time. In that case, when it does, make sure to not post too much content too quickly, and do not post content that could be against the rules of the platform.

Most of the time, creating a new account is the best way to bypass shadowbanning.

Conclusion

Shadowbanning is a tricky practice, but - as we have seen in this article - there are reliable ways to know if you have been shadowbanned and avoid it.

Leveraging social listening to jump into conversations on social media can sometimes lead to shadowbanning if you are not careful, so make sure to do it smartly.

If you want to try social listening, you can use our platform, KWatch.io: register on KWatch.io here.

Julien
Product Manager at KWatch.io