After sharing your art on social media, does anyone else experience a vulnerability hangover? Sharing our art is equivalent to sharing a piece of our hearts, secrets, and private thoughts and feelings. We put it out there, and the self-doubt, questions, and waiting for interaction begins. Will anyone see it? Will they connect with it? Will they like me? Hate me? Should I quit?
Recently, I was in a bit of a growth period on Instagram. Things were flowing along smoothly until 2 weeks ago when they suddenly came to a halt. You read about how you should have a website and email list because social media can disappear at any moment for you. Still, it's one of those things where you think it won't happen to you.
From what I can tell, I have been shadowbanned.
What does this mean? It basically means the only people who will see my work are some of the people who already follow me. I won't be found by new people through hashtags, searches, and Instagram's Explore. I won't have an opportunity to grow and reach new people. While this impacts me in many ways, one of the ways is financial, and it's a hit to my business.
How do you know if you've been shadowbanned? Instagram algorithms can feel tricky and often feel like there is no rhyme or reason to them. I noticed a significant drop in reach, engagement, growth, and a loss of followers. I no longer made it onto their Explore page. These signs were very inconsistent with what I was experiencing up until that point. Then, I used someone's phone who didn't follow me and searched for my name and for hashtags specific to me, and nothing for me showed up. I only existed to my followers, and for everyone else, I was invisible.
How long does it last? I've read and been told various lengths of time, with the best-case scenario being 2 weeks and the worst case being indefinite.
What did I do to cause this? From what I can gather, it's from using the same hashtags repeatedly, or my content didn't please someone, and they reported me. There are other causes, such as using broken or banned hashtags, but these are the only two feasible ones in my case.
Is there anything I can do to fix the situation? I've been given some advice from others who have experienced the same or similar things. One of the top things I was told to do was not touch the app for at least 48hrs. Friday was my last time on the app. Today, I am going to post again and hope for the best.
What have I learned so far from this experience? A positive from all of this is it's nice to have my followers see my work again. With social media, so much is out of our control. My plan is to continue sharing content on Instagram, but my main focus will be my website. With my blog, I have much more freedom and control over everything.
Hy hope is that my audience will visit me here and keep in touch! I plan to share more of my words, art, behind the scenes, updates, etc.
For those who struggle with sharing your art on social media and navigating the choppy water, I want to acknowledge that I see you and your amazing art. I know what you put into it and the courage it took for you to share it.
You can find me on Instagram under the handle @sharoncovertphotography
Thank you. ♥️
Self-Portrait shot at f/2.5 with @Lensbabyusa's new Soft Focus II Optic.✨