If you're an avid user of Instagram, then you'll know that lately, there have been a few hiccups with the app. And when I say hiccups I mean major bloody catastrophes.
Recently, I was shadowbanned. If you don't know what shadowbanning is, I suggest you Google it. There are a huge number of articles written about what it is, what causes it and how to try to avoid it. To put it simply - shadowbanning means my photographs don't show up under the hashtags I use for people who don't follow me. Meaning there is really no way for new followers to find me.
Shadowbanning sucks. It means that smaller accounts like mine cannot grow or reach maximum exposure. For something like this to be essentially out of your control, it's a very frustrating experience.
So what the hell can we do about it? Honestly, not much. I have since changed my Instagram account from a business profile (which was essential to find out my statistics) back to a personal profile; I have changed my hashtags but continue to be blocked on new hashtags that I use; I have tried no hashtags at all and I have tried everything I can think of. But this is not a post to complain about how my Instagram tactics are not working. This post is about sharing knowledge, sharing this issue and making everyone aware that Instagram is sadly treating their most important users - bloggers and small businesses - like crap.