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Twitter Shadowban
We have all experienced some sort of ghosting; from an ex, a friend or in this case, a social network. However, no need to panic. I will explain common reasons that result in a shadowban and how you can check to see if your account has been shadowbanned.
Even though we will talk about a Twitter shadowban today, it seems that it is a common topic among other networks such as TikTok and Instagram.
What is a shadowban on Twitter?
Before I get into how to recognize the shadowban, let me explain the practice of the shadowban.
Shadowbanning, also known as ghost banning, is the method that social media platforms use to hide users’ tweets, retweets and replies from feed, search bar and any other form. Specifically, it is Twitter’s AI technology taking cautionary actions to prevent spamming and violations of Twitter’s policies.
Even if a user is shadowbanned, most times they don’t know, because they can still interact with the network like normal, receiving no notifications that they are being penalized. So, it can be difficult to detect if you have been shadowbanned, but more on that later. First, I will talk about common reasons that lead to a shadowban on Twitter and how you can avoid this limitation.
Does Twitter actually shadowban?
There has been controversy whether Twitter actually shadowbans users or not. In a blog post from Twitter, they stated that they do not shadowban. However, shortly after that they came out with a new approach to handling “troll-like” behavior, saying they use
“Policies, human review processes, and machine learning to help us determine how Tweets are organized and presented in communal places like conversations and searches.”
So, with that said, it’s hard to know if Twitter is actively attacking these accounts or if it’s a machine-automated process.
How to know if you are shadowbanned on Twitter
Now that you know what a shadowban is and some of the possible reason Twitter could apply this to your account, is there a way to know?
The answer is yes. As we mentioned in the beginning, a shadowban reduces the reach of your tweets, so what better way to look for your tweets to see if they are public?
- Internally
If you have an alternative Twitter account, you can go to the Twitter search engine and type “from: your username.” For example, From:metricool. When checking the results, if the content is limited you may suffer from a shadowban.
- With a Twitter shadowban test
This page helps you know if you have a shadowban, through a small test. It’s super simple. Go to this page, type your username and click Check or enter.
This page tells you if your account exists and if it has any bans on search suggestions, results, hidden tweets or replies to tweets.
- With labels
In order to maintain transparency when it comes to hiding or reducing the reach of tweets that don’t comply with Twitter’s requirements, the social network has incorporated labels to hide these tweets.
Thus, if you see a tweet as shown in the example image, it is because it has probably violated the terms and conditions set by Twitter. This tag that can appear in a single tweet or in a thread of replies.
If the user believes that they have been falsely accused with their tweets, they can send comments to Twitter, although this doesn’t mean that the social network will change their minds. However, this is something the social network is working on, the possibility for users to appeal this decision.
Types of Twitter Shadowbans
- Thread Ban
A thread ban blocks users from seeing your replies to tweets.
- Search Suggestion Ban
With a search suggestion ban, users will not be able to see your profile in search results.
- Search Ban
In a search ban, your tweets will be hidden from the search results, even if using exact search words.
- Reply Barrier Ban
This happens if Twitter believes the user has been engaging in harmful behavior. Therefore, this ban will hide your replies and will only load them when clicking on “Show More Replies.”
- Tagging tweets with false information
In the event that Twitter believes the tweet contains false information, they will consider adding a label with context to the content: manipulated media.
- Limit the access or visibility of a tweet
With this measure, Twitter reduces the reach and visibility of the tweet that they marked as a violation of the terms and rules.
Thus, they prevent this tweet from being amplified through the restriction in search results and in the Timeline of users who don’t follow the author.
- Request to delete tweets
Twitter may request the removal of a tweet (or tweets) that have violated the rules of the social network. After receiving a notification by mail, the author can proceed to delete them or claim a dispute if they believe there is an error.
During this process, Twitter can even hide the content of the tweet.
If a Twitter shadowban has occurred, lifting it does not take long. If you have adapted your account to follow Twitter’s policies, staying inactive on the app for a few days is advised.
However, if you feel you were wrongly penalized, or your shadowban hasn’t been removed after editing your account, you can send a report to Twitter’s Support Team.
Shadowbanning may seem like a nightmare that no one wants to happen, but the reality is that if you follow the guidelines and good practices on the network, it is unlikely that a Twitter shadowban will be added to your account.
New to Twitter and not sure how to navigate the network as a professional? Follow this guide and excel on the network of tweets.