ep 005: Shadow Bans, Community Guidelines Violations, and How I get Around the Instagram Algorithm

Serv Wahan MD, DMD discusses shadow bans, community guideline violations, and hacks to get around algorithm blocking on TikTok and Instagram. He shares his experience with social media and how he started posting surgical content after the pandemic. Serv explains what a shadow ban is and how it affects reach and engagement. He also provides tips on avoiding shadow bans, such as giving your account a break, removing flagged content, and checking banned hashtags. Serv discusses community guideline violations and the importance of striking a balance between informative and sensitive content. He also shares insights from a study on content and engagement among plastic surgeons on Instagram.   Keywords shadow bans, community guideline violations, algorithm blocking, TikTok, Instagram, surgical content, reach, engagement, banned hashtags, personal content, social media following, SEO   Takeaways

• Shadow bans can result in a sudden decrease in reach and engagement on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
• To avoid shadow bans, give your account a break, remove flagged content, and check for banned hashtags.
• Community guideline violations can include posting dismemberment, sadistic comments, or celebrating suffering or humiliations.
• Personal content tends to have the highest engagement on social media platforms.
• Having a large social media following can improve search engine optimization (SEO) and increase visibility on search engines like Google.

Titles

• The Impact of Social Media Following on SEO
• The Power of Personal Content on Social Media

Sound Bites

• "A shadow ban has a sudden decrease in your reach and engagement."
• "Give your account a complete break and let the algorithm reset."
• "Hashtags can go from being used a lot to being banned."

Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:53 Understanding Shadow Bands 07:12 Tips to Avoid Shadow Bans 10:05 Banned Hashtags and Community Guideline Violations 31:13 Engagement and Social Media Following