Shadowbanned on 911...WTF?! ‍♂️

[fxmanaged]

Yup, this happened yesterday on 911!

We run a pretty popular influencer crypto page on Instagram, an industry where the amount of scams run rampant.

For about a week or so and based on the suggestions of some of our followers, we have been calling obvious scammers out by replying to their comments with comments like "SCAMMER," "SCAM ," "Lying SCAMMER," etc.

But little did we know is that a disgruntled scammer would report our comment to Instagram and even less so that Instagram would actually take action against us for it!

Well, that's exactly what happened! The image below shows the notice we received from Instagram alleging that our comment went against their "Community Guidelines" and was removed for "bullying or harassment!"

As I write this, the actual scam comment we replied to (and were flagged for) is still there. See this image...

Even though I know that Instagram is not going to do anything about it (and I needed to vent), I reported it to IG anyway. See image below...

Since we received the community guidelines notice, none of our posts (new and old) are appearing on either the TOP or RECENT tabs for both locations and hashtags (a clear shadowban), which means we'll be enjoying a full 2 weeks (at best) of delicious negative follower growth, unless Instagram actually reads (which they won't) and agree (which they won't) with our report. Way to go Zuckerberg!

Your thoughts?‍

 

[unknownsmmers]

Anytime instagram removes anything you did on the app, expect a shadow ban. I'm thinking it's because of the elections & mass bots.

It's a brand new update I see hitting BHW Home Feed as an issue, and it happened to me a week ago

 

[fxmanaged]

Anytime instagram removes anything you did on the app, expect a shadow ban. I'm thinking it's because of the elections & mass bots.

It's a brand new update I see hitting BHW Home Feed as an issue, and it happened to me a week ago

Agree, all removals come with a shadowban slap.

We've gotten hit with them in the past due to the reporting of a post or because of hashtags, but not because of this. This is too easy. Do you think we should stop using hashtags until the 2-week penalty is up? Normally we've stopped using them when the shadowban was due to HTs, but this is a new one, so I'm not sure if using them or not is a nonissue regarding the length of the ban.

 

[unknownsmmers]

Agree, all removals come with a shadowban slap.

We've gotten hit with them in the past due to the reporting of a post or because of hashtags, but not because of this. This is too easy. Do you think we should stop using hashtags until the 2-week penalty is up? Normally we've stopped using them when the shadowban was due to HTs, but this is a new one, so I'm not sure if using them or not is a nonissue regarding the length of the ban.

Last time I was shadow ban I cut back to use 1-4 hashtags and it didn't do anything after 2 weeks , so I stopped using them overall & it was back within 4 days.

I'm not sure if this means there is a new 14 day minimum with good behaviour,

Or if it's all changed.

Someone told me it could come back within 3 days if I just stop using them and I've experienced that multiple times, but I'd assume it'll be more strict as we go deeper in the year. Because it's been 4-7 days, and my recent test is still shadow ban

Edit: I'm assuming it's about 2-3 weeks in total after showing good behaviour/avg. human activity

 

[fxmanaged]

Last time I was shadow ban I cut back to use 1-4 hashtags and it didn't do anything after 2 weeks , so I stopped using them overall & it was back within 4 days.

I'm not sure if this means there is a new 14 day minimum with good behaviour,

Or if it's all changed.

Someone told me it could come back within 3 days if I just stop using them and I've experienced that multiple times, but I'd assume it'll be more strict as we go deeper in the year. Because it's been 4-7 days, and my recent test is still shadow ban

Edit: I'm assuming it's about 2-3 weeks in total after showing good behaviour/avg. human activity

Yes, this makes total sense and I've always wondered about what you're saying, whether good behavior lessens the "penalty."

 

[FatBee]

Scammer or not, you are harassing them. (something that I learned the hard way.) Calling out ppl and spamming them is against it rules. There is no way Instagram knows who's right or wrong but they know who breaks their terms (with your actions) better silently go and report them.

 

[fxmanaged]

Scammer or not, you are harassing them. (something that I learned the hard way.) Calling out ppl and spamming them is against it rules. There is no way Instagram knows who's right or wrong but they know who breaks their terms (with your actions) better silently go and report them.

I know you're right, but sometimes we get 50-100 scam comments a post. When you're posting 4 times a day, reporting 100's of profiles and flagging the comments is really time consuming and not feasible. It is as if the system is designed to protect the real criminals.

 

[AnnaLivia]

yesterday ALL my top posts, posts that been top posts for 6 months (in low hashtag categories), all of them (10-15) have been demoted down to a lowly “recent” post. I had just made a post that also got top post in many hashtags, I used 30 hashtags and also a telegram group for 20% of the likes, this post must have prompted for ALL My posts to be demoted.

Can someone give me some insights? I dont post often, once a month, but do stories daily. Should I post more or just back off entirely because of this?