Instagram shadowban: What does it mean for Tacha and her brand? – Vanguard

Big Brother Naija Season 4 Housemate, Tacha, has never seized to steal the spotlight, notably since when she was disqualified due to a fight she had with the eventual winner of the competition in 2019.

Every day, something related to Anita Natacha Akide (real name) usually graces the Twitter hashtag (#) trend list. But this was different on Saturday. The trending hashtag about her (#InstagramFreeTacha) was in revolt against Instagrams shadowban of her account.

Instagram, a video and photo sharing social media platform with about 1 billion users every month, is a frequently used platform by most of her fans.

As at the time of writing this article, this influencer (also known as Port Harcourt first daughter) has more than 1.3 million followers on the platform.

Shadowbanning is a regulatory trick used by social engagement platforms to silently reduce a users relevance. You know, the more people are able to see your post, the higher your influence grow on any known social network.

When a user is banned outright, he/she will know likewise followers. But in the case of shadowban, only people searching for the users content will know. Posted contents by such person will be less visible when searched for by other users.

As stated earlier, Instagram is Tachas fans stronghold platform. With this kind of ban, her hashtags may be undiscoverable in search by users of the platform. What about appearing in the explore? Very possible to be sidelined.

Instagram or any social network will never ban without the user not having violated its rule. Immediately the violated rule is fixed, the ban will invariably be lifted. However, the algorithm used by this social media platform may be wrong; such as misinterpreting a post as a violation of the platforms rule.

Use of banned hashtags: One of the secret of building followers which is no doubt a result of higher exposure, is the use of trending hashtags. However, it is not all hashtags that are related to your account and post.

When a user use one of the banned hashtags which were probably reported to Instagram, the account is seen as promoting a content related to the banned hashtag. Thus, the need to delete such post before the shadow ban is lifted.

Third-Party Software:Instagram users tend to use different third-party software especially to complement features not yet available on the platform such as scheduling and auto-post.

There are also some third party software that may involve the use of bots to grow followers. Softwares like this use the methodology of auto comment, auto like to engage potential followers so that they can check you out and probably follow. All of these are violations of Instagrams policy.

Users report: An influencer or account can be reported to Instagram by other users. Such as when a content that violated Instagrams policy is posted, The platform may investigate and afterwards shadowban the reported account.

Absolutely! Instagram is her main world, other platforms like Twitter are like her next room. This may significantly affect her influencer business as clients may demand the use of certain hashtags. Plus, they count on her reach and engagement in return for the amount charged.

@Do_yeen_ No angles at all We are tired pls release @Symply_Tacha from shadowban Her Instagram has been on this for months back. Do the needful if not no angel will b detected o.

@ForTachaLove1 Titans keep the tweets coming, lets keep pushing and begging instagram to free our Queen

@Triciaduchess Dear @instagram, whats going on with @Symply_Tacha account on your app? The account has been on shadow ban for almost a year. Please something needs to be done. The owner of that account is a very influencer personality. Please show her some respect #InstagramFreeTacha.

@AlphaTacha @instagram is it a blind eye you are giving us or you are actually blind? Please check what is stopping our Queen @Symply_Tacha Instagram followers from increasing,she has not gone against your rules and regulations for crying out loud! #InstagramFreeTacha

Literally, when an account is shadowbanned, the pictures attached with a hashtag from the account will not show up in the hashtag feeds when searched by someone not following the shadowbanned account. But, in Tachas case, it was discovered that her hashtags are still showing in the feeds.

A search of the hashtag #FlauntYourAMoment.which she used in her most recent post returned results in the hashtag feed.

A display like this indicates her account is not shadowbanned by the social media platform. However, there might be other reasons because she is the only one with access to her account backend. She might have received a notification from Instagram but none of it was stated in the trend.

Vanguard has however contacted Instagram on the issue and awaits a response from the Facebook-owned company.

In 2018, the controversial United States President, Donald Trump, accused Twitter of shadowbanning his party members (Republicans). Twitter denied the accusation.

The blog post by Twitter clarifying the issue reads in part; People are asking us if we shadow ban. We do not. But lets start with, what is shadow banning?

The best definition we found is this: deliberately making someones content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it, unbeknownst to the original poster.

We do not shadow ban. You are always able to see the tweets from accounts you follow (although you may have to do more work to find them, like go directly to their profile). And we certainly dont shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.

Twitter has resorted to other methods such as the use of flagging posts. Recall in May, Twitter for the first time did a fact check of some of Donald Trumps tweets, citing falsehoods.

The platform also uses suspension to maintain sanity. Users whose their account are suspended will know, likewise their followers.

Vanguard News Nigeria.

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Instagram shadowban: What does it mean for Tacha and her brand? - Vanguard