What is the TikTok Shadowban

They say we come on earth to leave a mark on others. This wise sentence has been dwelling over the planet for centuries. And, as the days go by, new strings get attached. There are a lot of ways in which you can make yourself known to the world. And, in the 21st century, social media is one of those.

With more than 700 million monthly active users, TikTok is a unique social platform with many amazing features. If your dream is to become famous and have many followers, TikTok is just the right place for you. There are a lot of easy ways to become famous on TikTok. 

But what if you get shadowbanned? What if people don’t find you at all? Well, don’t worry. There are a lot of easy ways to become famous on TikTok. But, first, let’s take a deep breath and try to understand what shadowban is on TikTok. Let’s begin. 

What is TikTok Shadowban

The terms shadowbanning or ghost banning, are quite popular nowadays. You might already know what this is. But, if you don’t, keep reading ahead, and you’ll understand. 

Shadowbanning is an elusive phenomenon, active around many social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter. TikTok is no exception at all. A TikTok shadowban is when you get banned on TikTok, or your views start reducing. So, as your visibility drops, your content stops appearing on the FYP or TikTok’s “For You” page. 

Now the fun fact is that this ban is an uninformed event. It means that, unlike bans on Facebook, there won’t be any formal declaration before it’s implemented. So, you don’t get to know easily that there has been a ban on your channel. 

So, how do you figure it out then? In most cases, a user will notify you that your contents are not visible on the FYP. On some days, you will also see a decrease in your audience engagement. For example, there will be fewer likes, shares, and views. 

But then again, it is hard to tell whether or not you have been Shadowbanned. Sometimes, it might be a result of natural loss. It means that you might be losing your audience for your own mistake. For example, if you stop making quality content for them, they will soon start unfollowing you. 

Businesses nowadays depend a lot on TikTok. So, getting shadowbanned is not good news for them. Again, since it is hard to tell whether or not it’s a shadowban, you will need to know more about the topic. So, let’s learn how to know if your TikTok is shadowbanned.

How to Know If I’m Shadowbanned on TikTok

As said earlier, there’s no way that TikTok will inform you whether or not you are shadowbanned. TikTok’s algorithm has a way of its own. It can make any video go viral within minutes. Hence, getting views on TikTok isn’t a great deal. 

This is the same way you can find whether you are banned or not. Any steep drop in your overall views might be an indication. 

The “For You” is where the users land when they first open TikTok. It is the same page where most of the videos are seen. So, when your videos stop showing up on the FYP, it is the time when you are shadowbanned. 

In most cases, you won’t know instantly when you are banned. It will take until another TikTok user informs you that they don’t see your content on the FYP anymore, even though you have regularly posted content. 

It is the moment when you might suspect whether you are ghost-banned or not. But first, check if you are naturally losing your followers. If not, then you have the benefit of the doubt.

Why Have I been Shadowbanned?

If you want to make money on tiktok, shadowban isn’t a preferable phenomenon to happen. If you think that you have been shadowbanned, there must have been something that the TikTok algorithm didn’t quite like. In most cases, these two reasons are the most applicable. 

Content Violating Community Guidelines

TikTok’s algorithm likes to keep the community clean and safe for every age group. Hence, if any of your content violates their community guidelines, you will face a ban- either permanent or temporary. Some controversial and forbidden topics are:

• fake news
• nudity
• drugs
• hate speech
• violation
• copyrighted music

 

Spamming

For one thing, TikTok’s algorithm is somewhat sensible. It may misinterpret some situations and consider some actions as spam behavior. For example, if you follow more than 50 accounts in a day, TikTok will think you are a spammer. Also, liking more than 100 posts a day will lead to such assumptions. 

These things can lead to a shadowban or a permanent ban based on the severity. 

How to Lift a Shadowban on TikTok

So, how do you lift a shadowban? Well, shadowban isn’t a great deal that may end up your TikTok career. But, you should be careful enough. For one thing, it will surely take down your audience engagement. So, if you suspect that you have been shadowbanned, there are a few things you can do. 

Delete Suspected Videos

Delete the suspected videos. Of course, you might not know which video(s) has brought you to this condition. But, you can at least guess the period from when you have been noticing the fall. Thus, you will have some suspicion which you can then remove from your channel. 

Don’t Post Spammy Content

Don’t get into spam. Any post on TikTok that might lead to spammy results will be treated strictly by its algorithm. If you post something spammy, you are more likely to get shadowbanned. So, avoid doing such stuff. 

Switch to a Pro Account

No, switching to a pro account won’t get you out of your ban. But, it will let you peek into the analytics. Here, you can see which video was the first to get the least view recently. Also, you can monitor your channel’s overall engagement. It will help you get an idea of when things started getting wrong. 

Don’t Go Against Community Guidelines

Going against the community guidelines will bring serious troubles for you. Hence, be aware of not crossing the guidelines. We have already mentioned the type of content forbidden from the platform. Remember that you have already been banned once. If you don’t hold your horses, you might face a permanent ban on the platform. Of course you can buy TikTok views, but that’s not going to save you always.

Conclusion

So, that was all about TikTok shadowban. Shadowban is a temporary thing. It doesn’t last for more than two-three weeks. Most people facing this issue have confirmed that the ban hasn’t caused many problems. 

But, if your engagement was high and had lots of followers, and so you had to post content regularly, such bans might lead to a loss of engagement. Therefore, you should be cautious enough while posting content. Steer clear of the NOs, and you will be alright.