How Buying Instagram Followers Can Reduce Your Risk of Getting Shadow Banned

There are many social media influencers on Instagram who have raised complaints about

Shadow banning in recent years. Even though the folks at Instagram have repeatedly denied the allegations of shadow banning, the fact is that shadow banning does exist on the platform.

If you’re an aspiring social media influencer and have only recently started using Instagram, this post is for you. Read on to know what shadow banning is, why Instagram does it, and what you can do to reduce your page from being shadow banned. So, without any further delay, let’s get right into it!

Shadow banning on Instagram – what is it?

Imagine this – you have a considerable social media following that regularly engages with all your posts.

However, one day, you notice that your posts aren’t experiencing the kind of engagement they did before.

So, what could have happened? Did your followers suddenly stop taking an interest in you or is there something more sinister beneath the surface?

Well, in all probability, your posts got ‘shadow banned’ – a practice used by Instagram to weed out pages on the platform that aren’t adhering to its Terms of Use. Simply put, if one of your posts is shadow banned, your followers won’t see it on their feeds.

In such a scenario, the only way anyone can see it is to go directly to your Instagram page. However, this isn’t the ideal way for an Instagrammer’s posts to be seen, right?

If your followers can’t see your posts on their feeds, it’s very unlikely that they’ll repeatedly

keep going to your Insta page for updates. In all probability, you’ll be forgotten and your dreams of succeeding as a brand or influencer on Instagram will be dashed.

Why is shadow banning necessary?

While Instagram shadow banning is a practice that Insta users criticize a lot, the fact is that it’s necessary. The only reason that Insta shadow bans an account or a post from a particular account is to appear credible.

Over the last few years, Insta has skyrocketed to the top of the social media ladder and provided handsome income opportunities to both individuals and brands. However, a lot of people have tried to make the most of these money-making opportunities by resorting to unfair means.

For example, a lot of Insta users pay for Instagram followers in the form of bots to raise their follower counts quickly. This practice affects the credibility of Instagram adversely, and Insta’s moderators are quick to enforce their shadow ban on such pages.

Your Insta page is also likely to get shadow banned if you:

• Use excessive hashtags: A lot of Insta users resort to using 20 – 30 hashtags for promoting a single post, often including irrelevant hashtags just for the sake of visibility. Ideally, you shouldn’t use more than 5 – 6 hashtags per post. You should also steer clear of using the same set of hashtags for every post. When you use the same hashtags across all your posts, Insta’s moderators will see your activity as spamming, which may lead to a shadow banned account.

• Post inappropriate content: If the content you publish is considered inappropriate based on Instagram’s Community Standards, it’s very likely to get shadow banned. Typically, Instagram doesn’t recommend such posts to other users on either their hashtag search or Explore pages.

While Instagram’s representatives have always maintained that they don’t actively shadow ban

any user, the fact of the matter is that Instagram shadow banning does exist.

How to tell if you’re shadow banned on Instagram

The most obvious indicator of your Insta account being shadow banned is a drastic decline in user engagement.

However, this doesn’t mean that there’s a shadow ban every time your user engagement goes down. Sometimes, engagement rates decline due to changes in Insta’s algorithm.

However, if you want to verify the shadow ban status of your Insta account, there are 3 steps to take:

• Use Insta’s Analytics feature: Instagram has its very own Analytics feature that allows users to observe a variety of stats for assessing the growth or decline of their pages. Some of the metrics such as impressions and profile visits will offer you insights into engagement rates. If you notice a sharp decline, it may indicate that Instagram has turned your account into a shadow banned account.

• Conduct shadow ban tests using online tools: There are certain online tools like The Heist and Triberr that are quite helpful in finding out the hashtags that you’re likely to get shadow banned for. If your account has indeed been shadow banned, these tools are effective in knowing the hashtags responsible for the shadow ban.

• Do a hashtag search: Hashtag searches offer the simplest ways to figure out whether or not your account has been shadow banned. To perform a hashtag search, you need to first publish a post using an uncommon hashtag. Next, ask a few of your friends to perform hashtag searches on Instagram using the uncommon hashtag you used. If they find your post in the search results, you’re in the clear. However, if they can’t find your post, your account has probably been shadow banned.

Buying followers to reduce shadow ban risks

A lot of Instagram-specific articles and blogs state that buying Instagram followers leads to repressed posts and shadow banned accounts.

However, this practice will only do you damage if you’re buying followers in the form of bots. Typically, services that provide bots as followers charge dirt-cheap prices, and those bots will run riot across your posts’ comment section.

Most of the comments left behind by the bots won’t be relevant to your post, which will make it quite evident that you’ve purchased those followers. As a result, your credibility will be severely damaged.

The irrelevant comments may also distract those who are genuinely interested in your posts and put them off, which is sure to have a negative impact the growth of your Instagram page.

However, if you buy Instagram followers that are organic, there aren’t any shadow banning risks involved. That’s because organic followers deliver something that’s valued more than anything else by the Insta algorithm – organic engagement.

This results in relevant and meaningful comments from users across all your posts. This adds to the credibility of both your Insta page as well as that of Instagram.

Avoiding shadow bans – the best tips

In this penultimate section of this article, we’ll share with you some of the best ways to steer clear of a shadow ban on Instagram:

• Remove bots from your list of followers: If you’re followed by bots, immediately remove them from your list of followers. Sure, your follower count may go down following their removal, but in the long run, it can stop your Insta account from being shadow banned. And while you’re at it, also remove any dubious followers if you spot any. Remember, the point is to make your Insta page as credible as possible.

• Check for banned hashtags in your posts: Due to the inappropriate nature of certain hashtags, Instagram has banned them from the platform. As more controversial hashtags emerge, you can be sure that many more are set to be banned in the future. So, before you include a hashtag in your post, ensure that it’s not banned by Instagram. If it is, your post will automatically be shadow banned by the platform.

• Don’t depend on third-party apps for posting comments and photos: Being active on Instagram for brands and influencers isn’t very easy. That’s why a lot of Insta users opt for third-party apps that automatically post comments and photos on the users’ behalf. While such apps may seem very convenient, the fact is that Instagram keeps a check on them and restricts their activity. If an app is doing all your work for you, there’s a high chance that your account will fall prey to Instagram shadow banning.

• Always adhere to Insta’s Terms of Use: Instagram’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use are essential for all Insta accounts to follow. However, it would surprise you that a lot of Insta users are totally oblivious to both of them. Simply put, as long as your posts are compliant with the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use, the chances of a shadow banned account are extremely thin.

Conclusion

So, if you ever experience repressed posts on Instagram, there’s a high chance that you’ve been shadow banned.

One of the best ways to undo shadow banning on Instagram is to remove all dubious followers (including bots) and to buy organic followers from a reputed service provider.

If you’re an aspiring Instagrammer and really want to make it big, it’s time to do things the right way and grow your Insta page organically.

Socoid is one of the most reputed places on the internet where you can buy Real Instagram followers for growing on Instagram rapidly without going against the platform’s terms of use and Community Guidelines.

Socoid delivers results within a matter of days, and Instagram users can choose how many followers they want to buy on the website.

Apart from offering followers, Socoid also offers Instagram likes and comments for those who have just started their journeys as influencers on the platform.