GuestpostAre you dealing with a Twitter Shadowban?
Cases of Twitter shadowbans can be annoying, especially if you can’t figure out how you can rectify the problem. Suddenly, you notice that your account is almost invisible. Less engagement, social activity, almost zero retweets, likes, and comments. This can be a stumbling block if you are a social media influencer.
With all these going on, it is normal to throw in the million-dollar question, “am I shadowbanned?” Has Twitter censored my account, limiting its visibility? You might find yourself going as far as trying to figure out if your account is under a cyber-attack.
It isn’t a time to be scared, there’s no cause for alarm. Many active users on Twitter at some point can have their account shadowbanned. I have also been there. But should you fold your arms and watch your Twitter account remain crippled?
Here is the good news! This article helps you to understand Twitter Shadowban and how you can fix it.
What Is Shadowbanning?
Shadowbanning is the act of suppressing your posts on your social media handle. Preventing your posts to reach your target audience. Shadowbans don’t come with notice from the social media platform on why your posts are hidden or banned. When your posts are shadowbanned, they become invisible to everyone. You are the only person left to view your posts.
Most times, the victims of Twitter shadowban are unaware of their shadowban. For instance, on 25th July 2018, a story from Vice made rounds on the media. This pulled waves that Twitter was shadowbanning certain leaders of the Republican Party. The alleged victims included the Party chairperson, Ronna McDaniel amongst others.
The story caused a great uproar on the news. It is important for people to understand why Twitter is limiting accounts. This system also determines the position of each profile on the drop-down search bar.
Twitter maintains a stand that shadowbans are not what the public thinks they are. They are deliberate actions of the algorithm to promote healthy conversations. This also includes limiting the reach of troll-like behaviors and updates. Twitter Shadowban helps curtail the spread of aggressive language and plagiarized texts.
To a reasonable extent, aTwitter Shadowban reduces issues of spamming on the network. Twitter gets to limit other users from seeing your account. It also prevents users from seeing your profile in the search options. Including banning all your tweets from search results.
Shadowbanning is annoying for every Twitter user.
Am I Shadowbanned: How to check if you are shadowbanned on Twitter
With all that may be happening to your Twitter account, I believe you will be asking yourself; Am I shadowbanned?
The first step to getting out of shadowban is to run a Twitter Shadowban check on your account. With a Twitter Shadowban tester/checker, you’ll know the status of your Twitter account. If your Twitter account is shadowbanned or not.
Follow these 3 steps, to run a quick Twitter Shadowban check on your account.
1. Visit twitter using an incognito or private browser mode
Depending on which browser that you are using, you can visit Twitter using an incognito mode. Look for options that activate the incognito mode and surf the net like a ghost. This will help you visit Twitter without leaving your digital footprints.
2. Visit the Twitter Explore page
Twitter explore works like the Twitter Search box when you are logged in. Go to the Twitter explore page, via www.Twitter.com/explore. Or, you can easily type “Twitter Search” on your browser for quicker access.
3. Scroll down to the search box and run a check on your account using your username
Type your username into the search box and run a check. If you can see your posts and replies, then you are not shadowbanned. You are shadowbanned if you can’t see your account, posts, and replies. Don’t use your Twitter link here as that will directly lead to your account and you wouldn’t know if your account is shadowbanned.
Or, you can run a quick check using a Twitter Shadowban Tester tool. Visit https://shadowban.eu, input your username and click check.
This tool will run a quick check on your Twitter account. Results will be provided on the status of your Twitter account. These results come in the following forms;
1. If your account exists
2. Is on suspension,
3. Has a ghost ban,
4. Affected by reply deboosting,
5. Has a search ban,
6. A search suggestion ban.
If you have an all green signal on all categories, then your account is safe.
What to do if you are shadowbanned
What is the next thing to do after discovering that your Twitter account is shadowbanned?
You might become anxious upon learning your Twitter account is blocked this way. It is normal to start throwing questions like; how long does Twitter Shadowban last? What exactly did I do to deserve a shadowban?
Your behaviour during your shadowban period has a lot of roles to play. It will determine if the ban will be extended or lifted.
Twitter Shadowbans usually last for 2-3 days. I suggest that you take a break from any social activity that may need your Twitter account. Leave your Twitter account alone. Petitions don’t help you lift the ban. Tweeting too frequently could worsen the situation. You could earn yourself an extra day of shadowban if you continue tweeting.
You must completely stop tweeting and start looking out for ways to lift the ban.
If your shadowban exceeds 72 hours, inform the Twitter support team. It’s not a bad idea to ask help.
You can also use your shadowban period to seek proactive ways to lift the ban.
How to Remove Shadowban
Follow these simple steps to remove a shadowban from your Twitter account.
1. Don’t Tweet
Do not make the mistake of Tweeting during your shadowban period. Take a break and let your account be.
2. Clear all social activity that you feel might have caused the shadowban
This might be difficult to do as you are not informed of which post attracted the ban. Still, you can begin with stopping any bots or automated tweets you use for Traffic. Delete all spam comments, tweets, and links that you have dropped. Clearing your Twitter account of any implicating social activity is a good step to take.
Clear your Twitter of anything that might go against Twitter policies.
3. Check if you have picked the wrong interests
Your Twitter data is another area that can attract a shadowban. You should begin with going through the boxes that you ticked as your interest. Find out if there are any of your interests that are worthy of suspicion.
4. Contact the Twitter support team
They placed the ban; they can help you lift it.
The Twitter support team helps users rectify issues about their accounts. These include issues about account suspension down to shadowbanning. The Twitter support team can help you clear all restrictions on your account. This includes if you can give them reasons for doing so.
A twitter agent should help you lift the shadowban if it lasts longer than 72 hours.
What should you do when your shadowban is lifted?
You just have to stay clear of whatever might have earned you a shadowban.
· Avoid getting your account reported
· Don’t tweet like a bot
· Don’t spam other users with links and unwarranted replies
· Avoid trolls and online fights
Staying clear of a shadowban is a deliberate action. You can choose to stay clear of Twitter’s bans if you stick to obeying their terms of use.
How do you avoid getting shadowbanned?
There are a lot of factors that Twitter considers before serving as a shadowban. Always make sure you base yourself on Social media tips / best practices. Understanding some of these rules will help you figure out the safety of your account. If your account is standing close to a shadowban, and how you can avoid getting shadowbanned.
Verify that you are a human being
Your social activity will be limited if there is no identity verification. This happens if the Twitter algorithm suspects that your account is managed by a bot. You can begin by confirming your email address and uploading a profile picture. These little steps will limit your chances of getting shadowbanned.
Apply moderation in all you do
We understand that you are a digital marketer and you need to get more traffic for your website. Some need their Twitter account to drive traffic for digital marketing. Using Twitter to drive organic traffic or sell your products and services might be risky. You can earn a shadowban if done wrongly.
Keep your activities as simple and you can to avoid other Twitter users from blocking you. Many blocks or reports on your account could attract a shadowban.
Be smart, stay away from online confrontations
It is normal to fight for what you stand for; a club, a movement, your hobby. These actions might become too confrontational. You’ll have Twitter AI misinterpreting your plain actions as a troll.
Whatever you do on Twitter, make sure that your replies and tweets are gentle. Engage other users in mild conversational tones. The more polite you sound, the safer your account is.
So what is a shadowban and how to remove it?
Twitter shadowbanning can be frustrating for every Twitter user. It’s worse if you aren’t aware of what you did wrong.
Unfortunately, you can’t negotiate or reason with the Twitter AI. No platform will offer you an opportunity to explain that you were banned wrongly and that’s the same with Twitch. In case you get banned, you can check out how to get unbanned tutorial for Twitch
You can only decide to become more careful. Prevent your account from attracting a second shadowban by sticking to Twitter policies. You can go as far as studying the accounts of successful Twitter users. Observe the structure of their tweets and replicate the same pattern. Understand what Twitter AI shuns and avoid them. Twitter algorithms don’t like, you can easily avoid shadowbans.
Debbie Moran
