??Shadowban on social media: reasons for getting banned and ways to get out

Shadowban is a measure of hidden moderation used on social media and other online platforms. It is a deliberate restriction of user actions by the resource administration when the user does not receive a notification of sanctions.

Possible punishment options include

- Restricting content for the general audience: only subscribers can see it.

- Blocking content for everyone: friends, subscribers, and the general audience.

- Limited interaction: you can't like or comment on content.

- Hiding user reactions and comments from everyone.

Most social networks do not officially admit that they use shadowban. But they don't deny it either ??

Possible reasons for getting into a shadow ban ??

?? Suspicion of spam, publishing illegal content, insults in comments.

?? The use of prohibited methods of promotion with the help of cheat services.

?? Getting into the "grey zone". This is the name of the moderation algorithm that is activated, for example, when using prohibited hashtags: we will talk about them below.

How to understand that you are in a shadow bath ??

1. Posts are not shown by marks, geolocations, and tags.

To check, post a post with a low-frequency hashtag: for example, #pricepostcheck and follow the tag from another account. If your post is not there, you are most likely under sanctions. If it is, it's not a ban, but a drop in engagement.

2. You've opened your post's statistics and don't see any hashtag views.

But don't jump to conclusions: analyse the activity of your followers over the course of at least seven days. The content may have deteriorated.

How to get out of a shadow ban??

Usually, following the rules helps to avoid sanctions. But sometimes complaints about content or accounts are deliberate. This method is used to fight competitors or opponents. If you think you've been punished for nothing, be sure to write to Telegram support and provide arguments. It rarely works, but it's worth a try.

Most often, shadow bans are given for real violations. Therefore:

??Analyse your content and behaviour. Get rid of everything that provokes users to write complaints.

??Reduce the frequency of posts, at least for a while, and give up provocative and controversial topics.

??Post what your audience needs. For example, if you created a channel for macrame lovers but started posting political news, be prepared for unfollowing and complaints.

??Get feedback from your followers to improve your content.