A Twitter shadowban is one of the last things you want to experience as an influencer on this platform. Receiving a ban prevents you from using some of the most relevant platform’s features. Among others, it might prevent you from interacting with other users and your posts might literally become invisible on the news feeds of other Twitter users.
If you were banned, you need to figure out what’s happening as soon as possible. Tweeting for several days without any results is a waste of time and extremely frustrating. Keep in mind there are several restrictions, so you have to determine what exactly happened and how it affects your account.
In this article, I want to cover the topic of shadowbanning on Twitter. After explaining the term, I will share a few tricks that will help you determine whether or not you’ve been blocked on the platform. My main goal is to provide you with tools and resources that will guide you toward unbanning.
Hopefully, after reading this post, you’ll never experience similar issues again!
What is a Twitter Shadowban?
Shadowbanning isn’t exclusive to Twitter. It is a practice that is used for various websites and social media platforms where users are blocked from utilizing certain features. In the case of Twitter, your tweets won’t appear in searches, threads, or feeds, and you won’t be able to respond to other users.
The trickiest thing about your shadowban status is that you won’t know you’re affected. In most cases, people realize they have an issue after noticing a lack of responses and interactions with their content. Still, this is a necessary practice as it prevents spam-like behavior, blocking users who don’t provide any value.
There are various reasons why you got banned. For example, you might’ve posted offensive content, spammy content, or went against the community guidelines in some other way. The ghost ban might be algorithmic or manual.
As you can presume, banning will lead to a major decrease in engagement. You might not be able to have any engagements with followers or experience follower growth. Basically, your account will be dead in the water unless you take corrective measures.
Signs Your Account Might Be Shadowbanned
As I’ve mentioned, figuring out that you’ve received a conventional shadowban shouldn’t be that hard. The best indicator is a sudden drop in engagement. Given that followers won’t see your tweets, you won’t get any reply tweets, likes, and other interactions. Your posts will be de facto invisible.
Another way to check your shadowban status is by typing your handle or Twitter username into searches. Those who were banned won’t appear when you browse them within the platform. The same can be said for their tweets. The visibility restrictions won’t be noticeable straight away, but you’ll likely spot the issue after a day or two.
Further Reading: 6 Reasons Why Your Twitter Account May Be Restricted (Without Your Knowing It)
You have several methods for determining whether or not you’ve been shadowbanned by Twitter. Experienced users will easily notice drops in engagement, but you might also perform other manual tests to determine if there’s something awry. On top of that, you can use third-party tools to check if you’re suffering from this issue.
Manual Method
The first thing you need to do is check if your posts appear for certain hashtags. If you can’t find yourself among the search suggestions, this is a clear indication you’ve been banned. Similarly, you can check your Twitter username within the search.
Alternatively, you can create a tweet from your account and share it on the timeline. Check the engagement levels and compare them to what you would previously get. Keep in mind this method might not be ideal for users who otherwise get a small number of likes and replies.
If that doesn’t work, you should ask one of the followers to search for your relevant hashtags. Make them look for specific tweets that are potentially troublesome. They should also insert your name in the bar to see if you’ll pop up. This is probably the hardest method for execution, as you’ll need to find someone to help you out.
Further Reading: 13 Best AI Tweet Generators for Twitter / X
As someone who has been on Twitter for a while, there’s little I haven’t seen or experienced. Luckily, I never got shadowbanned for my main account. However, I have had many who have gotten shadowbanned reach out to me over the years, so I have had the opportunity to test some of these web-based tools.
Despite having an extensive experience with various software, I didn’t want to overburden you with unnecessary information. So, I’ve decided to share my three favorite tools from this list. Each one of them is easy to use and provides quick results.
Still, this comes with a caveat. Although I’m sure each one of them is excellent in its own regard, I would use all three Twitter shadowban tests simultaneously to be certain that I’m banned.
Circlebloom has a few nifty tools that will help Twitter creators. Among others, you can use this website to clean up fake followers and inactive accounts. I also love the fact that Circlebloom helps you track everyone who has unfollowed you on the platform.
As for the shadowban test, it is rather straightforward. There’s a large search bar at the center of the page where you have to input your username. After a second or two, the program will tell you whether or not you’ve been banned with a short text. You won’t get any other information besides that.
If you’re a social media creator, you should definitely check the Revesery website. The platform provides numerous tools for users, regardless of their preferred platform. For example, you can tinker with TikTok video downloader, Instagram stalking IG, YouTube music downloader, and various other small, nifty programs.
Revesery works in a similar way as Circlebloom. All you have to do is input the profile name, and the software will do the rest.
The thing I love about Revesery is that it gives you extra information compared to Circlebloom. First off, it shows you whether an account still exists. After that, it analyzes all restrictive measures against you, including search suggestion ban, search ban, ghost ban, and reply deboosting, and tells you if you can use these features.
Further Reading: The 25 Best Twitter Tools for Marketing in 2024
The thing I like about HiSubway is that there aren’t many distractions on the screen. Unlike the previous two tools, there’s just an empty page with a search bar where you place your Twitter username.
The software will check your profile within seconds, showing you whether it exists or not. Similar to Revesery, it shows the status of search suggestion ban, search ban, ghost ban, and reply deboosting. I love the fact there’s an explanation for each of these bans, so you can get all the information in one place.
Another nice thing about this software is that it comes with an Android app. While this isn’t a major improvement, it’s still a nice feature to have. If you wish, you can also share the results of your test on Twitter.
What to Do If You Are Shadowbanned
The first thing I recommend is avoiding any Twitter activity in the next few days. You have to learn more about your infraction before taking any action. Furthermore, by taking a break, you’ll be more level-headed regarding your situation. It wouldn’t be bad to read about similar cases and how people resolved their specific problems.
Once you cool off, you should contact customer support. Many content creators get soft shadowban for some minor issue that you can remedy in a day or two. So, if you think you were wronged, you should appeal to moderators. However, if you posted harmful content purposely, you should delete it from your profile.
The biggest issue with deleting posts is that the platform only allows you to remove a single post at a time. Because of that, you’ll need quite a bit to “purify” your profile. Still, if there’s a lot of spammy content related to your account, it’s best to simply remove it and avoid posting it in the future.
More importantly, when you clean up your profile, you’ll need to take steps to prevent future bans. Start providing valuable content to your followers while avoiding cursing, controversial, and harmful statements and tweets. Stop spamming people with all sorts of nasty stuff, and avoid prohibited hashtags.
All in all, you should try to provide value to anyone using the platform.
Further Reading: The 21 Best Tweet Schedulers to Ramp Up Your X Marketing
Preventing Future Twitter Shadowbans
Avoiding a potential shadowban is not as hard as some people might think. Basically, all you have to do is produce high-quality content while avoiding any abusive or hateful behavior.
My honest suggestion is to avoid discussing politics, culture, religion, or any other sensitive topic. Even if you didn’t want to offend anyone, someone might report you for controversial opinions. So, it’s best to avoid this content strategy altogether and focus on more user-friendly topics.
Reading the guidelines for users is another way to avoid trouble. Go through the entire document, paying special attention to issues that previously caused you trouble. In fact, if you’re a big influencer, it wouldn’t be bad to read the complete guide whenever it’s updated.
You should focus on authentic engagements and respect all users on the platform. Talk to users as you would talk to people on the street, with all due respect for their cultural, political, and religious backgrounds. Most importantly, avoid abusive content and tweeting irrelevant content in bulk.
Next Steps
Like all other social media, websites, and search engines, Twitter wants to provide an amazing experience to all its users. The platform wants to create an environment where everyone can express their opinion and share videos and images without worrying about harmful behavior from other users.
So, even if you weren’t banned from social media, you’ll still gain value by reading this post. By following my tips, users can significantly decrease the odds of getting shadowbanned. Alternatively, if you were prevented from using Twitter’s features, I suggest you reread this article and take to heart all the suggestions I’ve provided.
Look up to the most prominent influencers on the platform and follow their lead. These creators are well aware of guidelines and what can get them into trouble. As such, you should model your Twitter game based on their example.
Further Reading: How to Use Twitter for Business: 15 Definitive Tips to Help You Master Tweeting
Hero Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash
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