Have you heard about banned hashtags but aren’t quite sure what it means? How does it affect you? How can you tell if a hashtag is banned? What happens if you use one!? All the answers are below!
First things first. Instagram have compiled a pretty extensive list of banned hashtags, and it gets added to all the time. Why have they done this? It’s all about improving/maintaining a positive use experience. They found that many common hashtags were being used inappropriately – basically attaching them to content that you don’t want to see (nudity, offensive posts etc.). So in order to crack down on this, they developed banned hashtags.
If you are using Instagram just to share photos with your friends and family then it’s no big deal, but if you are using Instagram for your business and rely on new people seeing your posts – it’s a big deal.
What happens if you use a banned hashtag?
We know the point of using hashtags – it’s to get your content in front of an extended audience; people who aren’t already following you but could be potential customers or clients.
If you use a banned hashtag in a post, that post will be invisible to anyone who isn’t following you. It affects your overall reach which goes against everything we are trying to achieve! If you use too many banned hashtags, or use banned hashtags as well as doing other things that upset Instagram, you may end up “shadow banned”. This means that your whole account cannot be seen by anyone who doesn’t follow you. That’s just bad for business!
How do you know what hashtags are banned?
Firstly, I’ll put a list at the end of this article that includes a lot of the more commonly known banned hashtags. But this is what you can do yourself to find out if a hashtag is banned:
First, go to search and type in the hashtag. Then tap on “recent”. If this message appears then that hashtag is banned.
What to do if you use a banned hashtag?
Don’t panic – that’s step one. It’s not the end of the world. Next thing to do is obviously stop using that hashtag. Don’t worry about deleting it from all your past posts, just move forward. Then check to see if you are shadow banned. You can do this by asking someone who doesn’t follow you to search one of your non-banned hashtags, and see if your post appears in the search results.
If you’re not banned – awesome. Just keep on going but leave out banned hashtags. If you are shadow banned, the best thing to do is lay low on Instagram for a few days. Do nothing – don’t post, engage, follow anyone. You can also submit a “problem” to Instagram support but don’t hold your breath waiting for a response. Don’t stress though – I’ve never heard of anyone being shadow banned for an extensive period of time.
If that has just left your head spinning and stressing over hashtags, I can help you out with my Hashtags Handled service.
Otherwise, read this list, check your posts and keep on ‘gramming!
Learn more about the best way to use hashtags here: Blog post: Handling Hashtags
The List (note: this is not an exhaustive list of all banned hashtags!)
#adultlife
#alone
#asia
#attractive
#beautyblogger
#brain
#babe
#bikinibody
#boho
#books
#beyonce
#costumes
#curvy
#curvygirls
#desk
#direct
#dm
#date
#dating
#dadylove
#dogsofinstagram
#eggplant
#elevator
#easter
#fitnessgirls
#fishnets
#goddess
#girlsonly
#gloves
#graffitiigers
#happythanksgiving
#hardworkpaysoff
#humpday
#ig
#instamood
#iphonegraphy
#italiano
#killingit
#kansas
#kissing
#lingerie
#like
#lean
#master
#models
#mustfollow
#nasty
#newyears
#newyearsday
#overnight
#petite
#pornfood
#popular
#pushups
#skype
#snap
#snapchat
#single
#singlelife
#stranger
#saltwater
#shit
#tanlines
#tgif
#todayimwearing
#thighs
#undies
#valentinesday
#woman
#womancrushwednesday
#women
#workflow
#wtf
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