There has been a lot of staying at home during the past few years. Perhaps you were too bored to use Instagram, but I highly doubt you really read the guidelines. Do you know what the Instagram rules are?
If you violate Instagram’s policies, you risk having your account, or your advertising account, deleted.
Let’s take a look at Instagram’s guiding principles.
Avoid Using Suspended Hashtags
All hashtags are not the same. Ignorance is no defence if you use a hashtag that Instagram has prohibited.
It’s against Instagram’s rules to use certain hashtags, so they’ve created a blacklist. Including such hashtags in a post’s caption will cause Instagram to hide the post from the user’s followers. Even if you think they are, you won’t be able to find them through a search.
Hashtags are typically disallowed due to their association with undesirable posts. Drugs, pornography, and hunting for trophies are just a few examples. Instagram users that are notorious for breaking the rules.
Stay away from the shadow ban
Be sure the hashtags you choose are appropriate for your target demographic, and don’t use any that have hidden, urban dictionary, or emoji-specific meanings that you aren’t aware of. You risk being shadowbanned if you use them too often.
Shadowbanning occurs when a user’s account, post, or hashtag is removed or disabled without their awareness. Shadowbanning is the practise of making a user’s posts and profile invisible to anybody who doesn’t already follow them. Even their followers don’t always see what they post.
Warning: Instagram does not provide a list of restricted hashtags, and these restrictions frequently evolve. Whether you’ve compiled a list of hashtags for your business, you should check to see if any of them have been blacklisted. If they have been prohibited, you should take them from your list.
It’s also a good idea to have a variety of hashtag collections to use with various updates. Posting to Instagram with the same 20 hashtags over and over again may signal to the platform that you are a bot.
Avoid Acting Like a Robot
Instagram only allows posts from genuine people, and it can identify automated accounts. The use of bots is not guaranteed, although it is possible that your actions resemble those of a bot.
Problems can arise with your account if you engage in any of the following activities:
- Over 60 people followed and unfollowed in one hour
- Having more than 300 likes an hour
- Putting up more than 60 comments in one hour
- Leaving the same remark on several posts
- Using pictures without permission is a copyright infringement.
- Constantly include unwarranted individuals in your posts
- Sending promotional emails to those who haven’t signed up to receive them
- Putting low-resolution, pixelated media online
- There is a daily cap of 500 actions for new Instagram users. The actions of like, commenting, following, and unfollowing are all included. It’s possible to send between twenty and fifty private messages daily.
In short, do your part to make the neighbourhood a better place. All the major social networking sites have similar guidelines, so if you’re engaging in any of these behaviours, you should immediately cease doing so. (Seriously, quit!)
Take Care Not to Irradiate the Public with Falsehoods
To put it mildly, this is a sticky situation and a hotly debated topic. True or false checkers; thinking censors? When will you be able to speak your mind?
Instagram isn’t really the best venue for deep philosophical discussions. And if it is, don’t do it on the page associated with your brand. Telegram is an example of a network that does not rely as heavily on moderation, therefore it may facilitate open and frank discussions.
For those who make the mistake of believing false information, there are some potential consequences.
Instagram users may be unable to tag or mention an account that has consistently posted fake information.
A notice will appear to anybody who attempts to follow one of your blacklisted accounts, explaining that the account has been warned for posting fraudulent information in the past.
Instagram also has the ability to obscure the content of accounts known to spread misinformation.
The one thing certain to ruin your social media experience. If an Instagram account is found to be violating Instagram’s Community Guidelines, Instagram will delete the account.
If they determine that you are distributing false information, they will take appropriate measures. Once again, this is similar to the other major social networking platforms. For spreading false information, Twitter will suspend your account for 7 days.
Learn What Is Banned on Instagram
Let’s review what’s off-limits in advertising before we go into the nitty-gritty. Nothing on the site, including postings, advertising, photos, videos, or the like, should contain the following material:
- Exchange of weapons for money
- The Buying and Selling of Alcohol
- To gamble over the Internet
- Material that might be seen as sexual
- Deliberately divisive language
- Commerce with tobacco products
- Drugs that are prescribed illegally (even if legal in your region)
- Promotion of the Trade in Live Animals
- Wealth-generating or profit-increasing financial goods
- Use of coercion or harassment to get a confession
- Vandalism, property destruction, and other forms of physical and monetary abuse
- Self-injury discussions
- Encouragement of unhealthy eating habits or extreme dieting
- Video or images that present an exaggerated standard of beauty
- Graphic visual representations of violence
Social media administrators are well aware that Instagram (and Facebook) can incorrectly flag content. I’ve had photos of genuine people working at Contentworks Agency reported to me because they show unrealistically thin people. Also, I’ve had posts deleted because they were about personal finance without any sales pitches or calls to action.
The degree to which Instagram is strict with you may also depend on other criteria, such as:
- The length of time you’ve had an Instagram account
- The amount of fans you have
- Participation in your account
- Transactions made in your account
It’s preferable to remove any doubt that your post will be reported before it goes live than to waste time arguing your argument, which can be both annoying and pointless. Don’t assume you can get away with posting illegal photos alongside appropriate text.