Shadowbanned?
Elena's views fell off a cliff. She spent a week reading forum theories about secret shadowbans.
What happened
Then she opened Account Status and found a clear answer: her account wasn't eligible for recommendations.
A follower-growth service she'd paid for two years earlier had left a pile of bought followers on her account.
The rule behind it
Instagram's Recommendation Guidelines list bought likes or follows as a reason an account may not be recommended. Account Status shows it and lets you request a review.
Getting paid by following the rules
- Check Settings, then Account Status, then "Can your content be recommended?"
- Remove obvious bot followers and stop any paid growth services.
- Request a review once the problem is fixed.
Check the status screen before you believe the forum.
More stories
The workout that went silent
Lena's 3-minute workout Reels used a full chart-topping song. Half of them were muted within a day.
The voice that wasn't his
Theo started using a realistic AI voice to narrate his history Reels. It sounded like a real documentary host.
Send $100, get $1,000
Tyler's growth exploded when he started posting "money flip" results and promising followers they'd double their cash in 24 hours.