Why am I suddenly getting less likes on Instagram | Shadow Banned

Why Am I Suddenly Getting Less Likes on Instagram | Shadow Banned

Ahhh the shadow ban. Does it exist on Instagram or does it not? Is this the reason for getting less likes on Instagram?

Instagram has come out and said that there is no such thing as a shadow ban on their platform. However, millions of users have asked the questions, “Why am I suddenly getting less likes on Instagram?”

Some of the most prolific examples of these instances are influencers who average 100K likes per photo. Suddenly if they post something distasteful or too risqué, they will see a drop of organic likes. Sometimes by 50% or even more in some extreme cases!

All this happening overnight with no warning which leaves businesses, brands and individuals questioning; how can they make up for this extreme business hit?

Theories on Why You Might Be Getting Less Likes on Instagram

There are some theories as to why you are suddenly getting less likes on Instagram. One is the Shadow Ban as described above, and a one other (my favorite theory) that I will dive into below.

Another reason, and probably my biggest/most confident bet, on why so many people are asking themselves, “Why am I suddenly getting less likes on Instagram?” Is due to the fact that like many of the businesses and people on the platform themselves, Instagram is not a non-profit business.

They believe in capitalism and want to make the most money possible. How does this play into the drop of organic engagement due to Instagram manipulating their APIs and algorithms? Here is how.

Instagram in the Beginning

When any social media platform that allows you to gain followers and likes and accumulate these metrics in a form of popularity, they make it as easy as possible to become popular.

You can gain hundreds of followers just by engaging, creating an account, posting, using hashtags, and being tagged in other photos. Instagram will reward you greatly by showing your posts to as many other users as possible.

The thinking behind this is that if you see success on the platform, you are more likely to continue to use it, share it with friends, and be a positive spokesperson for the platform. Thus, helping them gain users. 

Although this is true in the beginning, this is short lived.

Instagram Has Grown | Things Have Changed

As Instagram grew from 50 million users to 100 million to 500 million and so on, they began making it harder and harder for you to gain followers and engagement naturally. This is because in the beginning Instagram was not focused on making money. They did not offer paid ads or post boosts.

They were simply in the game to gain as many active users as possible. Once this is obtained, the monetization begins. It Is near impossible to get people to buy ads or pay for post boosts for engagement if everyone is already receiving a ton of organic engagement.

Therefore, they must make it harder for you to gain exposure just from simply having followers. If you go from 500 likes a photo to 100 likes a photo after changing nothing from your strategy, you now have to make up for that loss of 400 likes per photo by either paying Instagram for an ad to gain engagement or boost the post.

It really is genius in terms of monetizing off people who have become personally and professionally reliant on this social media platform. 

So, if you ever see yourself losing engagement and think, “Why am I suddenly getting less likes on Instagram?” Do not feel bad, don’t question if your posts aren’t popular enough or if you are losing fans. Instead understand that it is much bigger than that. It is the platform controlling the narrative to make sure they can make as much money as possible.

Author Chris Costello Chris Costello: Chris is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at SpectSocial. Find him on Facebook @chris.costello.92