Having your activities interfered with by a platform host such as Twitter can be incredibly irritating, especially when you aim to achieve a certain level of visibility and engagement on your account.
It can also be confusing to grasp why you suddenly have community reach number limits, had content removed or made invisible to other users, and why shadowbanning maneuvers have been imposed on you.
You’re also probably wondering how to unshadowban your posts or account. We’re going to break down how to get unshadowbanned on Twitter for you in this comprehensive guide.
What Is Shadowbanning?
Shadowbanning is an action performed by social media platforms like Twitter and others to partially or fully block an account’s post visibility and audience reach.
The user will typically not get a notification of the suppression of posts and reach.
A shadowban is often placed as a consequence of undesirable activity by a user. It is a colloquial term not used by platform hosts themselves but rather by users.
There is some debate and controversy around the issue as well as Twitter insists it does not block any of its user’s activities.
However, account holders do experience blocks.
Twitter also released a statement updating its rules in 2020 that included a clause that the platform may “remove or refuse to distribute any content,” “limit distribution or visibility of any content,” and “suspend or terminate users.”
There are typically about three broad shadowbanning categories with Twitter. These are the following.
Type #1: Thread or Ghost Shadowbans
These are essentially prohibitions on searches and hiding the affected user’s replies to tweets from others.
The page will look normal to the account holder, but others may notice they can’t view the impacted user’s tweets.
Type #2: Search Suggestion Shadowban
You may also note that your account no longer appears in search suggestions.
This is noticeable when the user isn’t logged in. You’ll also see most of your recent posts are gone.
Type #3: Reply De-boost To Reduce Spam
If Twitter’s systems indicate that replies to a tweet may result in aggressive conduct, these responses may get hidden behind a barrier.
They may still load when users click the ‘show more replies’ prompt.
Why Your Twitter Account May Have Been Shadowbanned
All social media platforms have a set of rules users need to abide by. Twitter is no different in defining what is expected from participants.
If you adhere to the rules stringently, you won’t easily be shadowbanned.
Make sure to familiarize yourself with these expectations to avoid a shadowban. Otherwise, there are user actions that may lead to Twitter restrictions.
There are four main reasons Twitter might impose shadowban or reach limitations on your activities. These include:
Reason #1: Inappropriate Posts
If your posts are offensive, Twitter may remove content and put a shadowban on your account.
Content that’s likely to be shadowbanned will:
- Promote racism, hate speech, and discrimination
- Refer to sexually explicit or subversive language
- Incite aggression or violence
Reason #2: You’ve Been Harassing or Trolling Other Twitter Users
Constructive and intelligent debate is encouraged on Twitter, but harassment or bullying of other users for their views is unacceptable and, therefore, not tolerated.
If you’ve been aggressive or impolite to other users in excess, then this is grounds for a shadowban.
Just don’t do it, even if someone is antagonistic towards you – report them to Twitter support.
Reason #3: Your Posts Are Spammy
Using social media platforms to promote your business is extremely useful. However, if your posts are too frequent and become spam, then Twitter may restrict your posts.
To avoid this, be sure your ads have a more authentic, personal feel and intersperse them with non-marketing posts.
Also, never allow your apps to automatically share the same content to other platforms. Twitter is very sensitive to the bot issue.
Reason #4: You’re Using the ‘Follow, Unfollow’ Flimflam
You may also attract a ban if you’re following other users to help create a strong following, then unfollowing them to keep your ‘follower’ numbers higher than your ‘following’ ones.
This tactic is referred to as churning, and it is frowned upon. It may even lead to your account being suspended permanently.
How To Check If Twitter Has Shadowbanned Your Account
Sometimes, you may suspect you have been shadowbanned without knowing for sure.
To know how to get unshadowbanned on Twitter, you need to find out if you have incurred a ban.
You can tell if your account has restrictions in a few key ways.
Notice the Signs
If you suddenly have a large engagement reach drop and your post interactions have plummeted, then a shadowban may be the reason. This is a key indicator of a restriction.
You can then test the system to see if you have incurred a ban.
Check Your Recent Feeds
A useful method to check for a shadowban is to log out and then do a Twitter search for your username.
If you can’t find your most recent tweets, you’ve likely been banned.
Use Third-party Software
You can also use external software designed to check for shadowbanning.
How To Be Unshadowbanned
Luckily, learning how to get unshadowbanned on Twitter is fairly straightforward. Even if you don’t take action, the platform usually makes your account available again in 48 to 72 hours.
Simply leaving your account alone until the shadowban has been lifted is the simplest way to deal with the matter.
However, if you feel you have been shadowbanned unfairly or prefer to accelerate a resolution, there are some ways you can resist and undo the ban yourself.
Check Your Activity and Remove Offending Posts
One of the fastest ways to actively lift a ban is to clear out your feed.
It can be tricky to pinpoint which post caused the ban, but go through and delete anything that looks spammy or offensive.
Check Twitter’s rules for an idea of how you may have violated them.
Reduce Activity for a While
As mentioned, simply reducing your activity until the ban has been lifted is a simple option.
You can keep checking your engagement stats to see if the ban is still in place.
Contact Twitter for Support
If you have done all the above and still notice you are under a ban, you can also contact the Twitter support center.
Be careful not to mention the word ‘shadowban’ but explain to them what you perceive is the problem.
That may be worded as your tweets not popping up under certain hashtags, reduced engagements, or tweet disappearances.
Some Final Thoughts
As you can see, while a shadowban sounds complex, it is typically quite simple to sort out.
When wondering how to get unshadowbanned on Twitter, the best thing to do is simply avoid posting to your account for a few days and just monitor the situation.
If you continue to post the same kind of content, you may get another ban once the first one has expired.
