Stop Calling It A Shadow Ban.

In case you missed it the internet has been freaking about Instagram for say the last 12 weeks. What happened? Basically loads of people are complaining that engagement has plummeted and I can’t say they aren’t right. Lots of people myself included have experienced this drop in engagement that is down right freaky. So many stories are floating around — “of I used to get 1,000 likes on average now I only get 500”.

The answer everyone likes to cite is this so-called “shadow ban”. What is a “shadow ban”? It basically means that people believe that Instagram is targeting accounts and preventing them from coming up in hashtags. To your followers and you everything looks normal but on the outside basically, Instagram is keeping you hidden, essentially stopping your ability to grow organically.

If the “shadow ban” was in illness it would be the black plague of death because basically every active user, I know is complaining they have it. Albeit my circle is a small sample of people compared to Instagram’s 700 million users but still statistically unlikely that Instagram has gone around and “shadow banned” so many people that I know. I do believe some people are “shadow banned” but nowhere near the amount of people of I see complaining about it.

Why don’t I think there is an epidemic of “shadow banning”?

Well, Instagram just hit more users than ever — 700 million people actually. Which means there is more content than ever and their job is to sort through it all match it to the people they think will like it the most.

My personal opinion is large hashtags are just flooded now and sometimes Instagram can’t just compute it all perfectly for every single photo to pop-up exactly where it should. Also, it’s just harder for people to sift through content and find yours when there more on there than ever!

It’s worth noting that consumer behavior has changed since the introduction of Stories. I personally know what I do now — I open stories first, and I don’t scroll as long as used to in my feed. My theory is this is the case for a lot of people.

Stories now have 200 million people on them (more people than Snapchat) and while likes on my photos are down it is worth noting views on my stories are up. I think is an important shift in consumer behavior that people are not recognizing the opportunity.

So what I am doing to keep growing my account @gem_hunt? I know that the organic growth I got from hashtags will likely never be what it used to be and that is okay with me. I am pivoting and moving on. I am focused on producing quality and more consistent content for stories and growing exposure for my brand outside of Instagram.

I urge all of you think about how you can pivot your Instagram strategy as well and would love to hear your thoughts on this topic below.

You can follow my personal Instagram, or follow me on Twitter or my Instagram account with over 158k followers @gem_hunt