Hashtags serve as a great means of gaining new followers and increasing client engagement with fresh and relevant content which is trending the charts. But Instagram has been taking the hashtag scene rather seriously since the last year which has led to the development of a hashtag ‘hit list.’ A complete ban has been imposed on this list all across the app with continuous additions made to the same on a yearly basis. If you mistakenly add these hashtags to your post, them the same shall be automatically hidden from explore pages and hashtag searches leading to lower engagement.
Although it can definitely be accredited as a superb means of eliminating spam content, the bot detection means of Instagram is causing problems in the daily proceedings of Instagrammers around the globe. Keeping such things in mind, we have come up with a complete list of the banned hashtags and everything you need to know about the same to keep your posts secured from getting penalised. Banned Instagram hashtags might initially seem some extra work for your post but it can go a long way for restricting spam behavior increasing at rocket speed inside the platform. All you need to do is just audit your Instagram account hashtags once every month for protecting your brand image and benefitting out of greater client engagement.
Why Do Some Hashtags Get Banned?
Whenever we think of Instagram banning hashtags, the first thought which comes to our mind are the ones promoting pornography, hatred and terrorism. But the real logic encompasses a wider category which might even encompass the soberest divisions. The #happythanksgiving hashtag was banned for being used rampantly which caused it to be presumed as spam content. Some other potent reasons of hashtag blocking by Instagram are as follows:
Sharing content over which you do not have any right.
Sharing explicit content filled with nudity in the form of intercourse, genitals and close-ups of full buttocks.
Contacting people repeatedly for commercial purposes.
Taking part in organized crime, selling or buying illicit drugs and firearms by using the platform.
Advertising about sexual services which doesn’t meet the community guideline.
Disrespecting other Instagram users by posting contents carrying hate speech or threats which intend to degrade or shame users.
Posting graphic videos or images of events which are devoid of any warning or captions in regards to its sensitive content.
Posting content which glorifies self-harm.
How To Know If A Hashtag Has Been Banned
Banned list of hashtags change frequently making it imperative to conduct adequate research at our end before including them in the post. You can find out the banned Instagram tags by searching for the same in the search bar. For this, you need to click on the magnifying glass icon appearing at the Explore tab and then type in the hashtag. Once the hashtag name appears, you need to click on the same and scroll through the following pictures. On reaching the end-point, you might come across a message stating ‘currently hidden’ which indicates that the hashtag has been banned by Instagram. Some of the hashtags are banned on a temporary basis. However, it is always advisable to reframe the same for evoking high engagement and spreading word about your post.
What Happens If A Banned Hashtag Is Used
Using banned hashtags repeatedly can cause the bot-finding algorithms of Instagram to mark your account. Using the #happythanksgiving hashtag will bring down chances of showing your content for that particular hashtag and even treat it as spam. Multiple flags can also lead to account removal or shadow banning. You can think of shadow banning as a scenario where Instagram doesn’t do anything at the foreground, but secretly limits the reach of your posts. Thus, your posts will never reach its intended audience and you will keep on blaming the content quality and your editing skills. If you ever find that your engagement reports are hinting at diminishing number of comments and likes, then chances are high that you have been shadowbanned by Instagram.
Common banned Instagram Hashtags 2019
A
- #adultlife
- #abc7ny
- #alone
- #always
- #americangirl
- #armparty
- #adulting
- #asia
- #attractive
- #assday
- #ass
- #abcess
- #abdl
- #assworship
- #addmysc
- #africanexpeditions
- #agariogaming
- #akiralane
- #asiangirl
- #allbreasts
- #amearalavey
- #animenoobs
- #afourchamberedheart
- #audaciousprayer
B
- #beautyblogger
- #beautydirectory
- #brain
- #babe
- #boho
- #bbc
- #besties
- #bikinibody
- #books
- #beyonce
C
- #curvy
- #costumes
- #cpr
- #curvygirls
D
- #direct
- #dating
- #dm
- #date
- #dadylove
- #desk
- #dogsofinstagram
E
- #easter
- #eggplant
- #elevator
- #edm
F
- #followforfollow
- #fitnessgirls
- #fishnets
G
- #girlsonly
- #goddess
- #gloves
- #graffitiigers
H
- #hotweather
- #happythanksgiving
- #hardworkpaysoff
- #hawks
- #humpday
- #hustler
I
- #ig
- #ilovemyinstagram
- #instamood
- #instababy
- #instasport
- #iphonegraphy
- #italiano
J
K
- #killingit
- #kissing
- #kickoff
- #kansas
L
- #l4l
- #like
- #leaves
- #lingerie
- #likeback
- #likeforlike
- #lulu
- #livinforalivin
- #loseweight
- #lean
M
- #milf
- #master
- #mileycyrus
- #mustfollow
- #mirrorphoto
- #models
N
- #newyearsday
- #nasty
- #newyears
O
- #orderweedonline
- #overnight
- #outdoorbirth
P
- #parties
- #petite
- #popular
- #pornfood
- #pushups
- #prettygirl
- #puppydogmondays
- #publicrelations
Q
- #qatar
- #quadveins
R
- #rate
- #ravens
S
- #samelove
- #selfharm
- #snapchat
- #skateboarding
- #skype
- #stranger
- #snap
- #single
- #singlelife
- #saltwater
- #shower
- #sallyhansen
- #sopretty
- #stud
- #sunbathing
- #streetphoto
- #swole
- #shit
- #snowstorm
T
- #tgif
- #todayimwearing
- #teen
- #treasurethesemoments
- #teens
- #tanlines
- #thought
- #tag4like
- #thighs
- #tagsforlikes
U
- #undies
V
- #valentinesday
W
- #woman
- #womancrushwednesday
- #workflow
- #women
- #wtf
X
- #xxx
- #xenociteclad
- #xanax
Y
- #yochale
- #your_sinful_memory
- #youngmodel
Z
How To Hide Instagram Hashtags
Everyone doesn’t wish for their hashtag to remain visible after posting their content in Instagram. The main reason behind this is the requirement of posting multiple hashtags. You can consider hiding your hashtags if you wish to prevent them from appearing inauthentic, cluttered or spammed. For doing this, you simply need to follow the steps mentioned below:
Open the text editor from your phone.
Press the ‘Return’ icon five times after typing a dot.
Now type in your preferred hashtag adjacent to the fifth dot.
Copy the typed text before opening Instagram.
In the last step, you need to post your image or video file along with an appropriate caption and the hashtag embedded in the same.
The above steps will come off as fruitful when copying and pasting from the text editor and not when typed in directly to Instagram.
How To Avoid Getting Flagged By Instagram
Instances are not rare when people end up falling prey to their very own user habits in Instagram. This can cause a sharp fall in your engagement stats or even the levy of a ban on your account by this popular social networking portal. You should thus make sure that you don’t end up using the banned hashtags of 2019 while posting in Instagram. To keep things safe, you can abide by the steps mentioned below while posting content in Instagram:
Make sure to remove abused or broken hashtags.
Rather than playing the guessing game, scan through all your hashtags to make sure that none of them fall under the banned list of Instagram. You need to be elaborate while undertaking this step and you cannot just take a sample population.
Your content will be considered spam if you use 30 hashtags. To keep things on the safer side, you need to limit the usage of tags to a maximum of 10 and also use different tags for different posts.
People often seek the assistance of bots for increasing both likes and comments. But this can ultimately result in a ban of the account. Paid likes and comments also result in unnaturally high levels of interaction which is treated as spam by Instagram.
Engagement groups refer to users who share a mutual agreement of promoting each other’s content by liking and sharing posts. Although this can boost up the prominence of posts, it goes against the Instagram policies. Such type of activity can be easily spotted by Instagram which might ultimately lead to a ban.
What To Do If Instagram Shadow Bans Your Account
Although no guaranteed solution is present for dealing with this issue, you can definitely try out the steps listed down below to gain a safer edge:
To begin with, you can correct and update your content by removing the banned hashtags. You should also delete the irrelevant hashtags to keep the number at a minimal level and prevent the same from being tagged as spam content by Instagram.
Usage of third party apps along with Instagram often leads to a shadow ban. In such a case, you need to disconnect the apps if they look similar to automated interactions or bots.
Removal of spammy content can serve as your first step towards removal of shadow ban. Inappropriate use of hashtags or using excessive hashtags might cause the content to be treated as spam.
Influencers often fall short of ideas and can end up posting the same thing again and again which in turn might lead to a shadow ban. Thus, if you have been feeling very worked up lately, then you can take a few days break from Instagram so that your account gets reset by its algorithms and you can start afresh. Doing this can also bring down chances of identifying your account as a bot which happens due to excessive posting, liking and commenting.
Instagram accounts often get unfairly shadow banned because of any misunderstanding. In such cases, you can report the same to Instagram trough official communication and they can manually reverse the ban.
People who have been using their personal Instagram account for conducting business are highly vulnerable to the levy of ban. Thus, if you are using the account mostly for promotional and advertisement purposes, then you need to convert it to a business account.
Conclusion
Growing number of spammers, fake accounts and bots have caused Instagram to sternly regulate the social promotion field. Coupled with changes in platform updates and algorithms, Instagram has been trying to implement newer methods of bot detection which will readily flag accounts as spam on usage of certain hashtags. Some of these changes target users publishing duplicate content and monitor unauthorized app usage. Instagram has not openly denied or confirmed whether using banned hashtags can lead to a shadow ban. As a matter of fact, they haven’t officially confirmed the existence of shadow banning. But if the likes and comments on your published content suddenly diminishes, then using the banned hashtags of Instagram can definitely be put to blame.
