Why Is TikTok Shadow Banning Me?

Yes, you read that right! I am shadowbanned!

If you’ve never heard of the word shadowban, here’s a definition from influencermarketinghub.com…

“Shadowbanning refers to blocking a user’s social media content in such a way that they are unaware it’s happening”.

Well TikTok, I’m aware!

I was at FinCon recently, which took place in Austin, where I met dozen upon dozens of major influencers in the business and finance space. Like myself, they also have millions of social media followers. However, they were not shadowbanned and I was. I got to ask many of them about their opinions on the matter, including one verified TikToker, Dr. Brad Klontz, who believes shadowbanning is fake!

And so, I gathered my evidence as to why I believed I was shadowbanned and came up with a data-backed analysis.

Keep in mind that at the time of me writing this post, I currently have 826.2k followers on TikTok alone. However, in the past 90 days, I have had no For You Page exposure. This means that my videos are only being shown to people who already follow me. I am being forbidden of any organic growth and my account is hidden from new users.

The amazing thing about TikTok is that anybody can go viral due to the nature of the FYP. When this algorithm stops working on your page, it is a tell-tale sign of shadowbanning.

Because I’m a data and marketing nerd, I wanted to do a test. I heard that if I just made a new TikTok account with the same videos on it, the second account won’t get shadowbanned. So, I had my social media super girl assistant download all my old videos and post them to a backup account! What’s fascinating is that the same exact videos that get no FYP exposure on my main account, get tons of exposure and views on my backup account! In just 30 days, the backup account had almost 30k followers! How is it that the account with 800k fewer followers gets more For You exposure?

How to Check If You Are Shadowbanned

There is a difference between not getting very many views and claiming to be shadowbanned versus actually looking for the signs.