Yes, you read that right! I am shadowbanned! 

If you’ve never heard of the word shadowban, here’s a definition from influencermarketinghub.com… 

“Shadowbanning refers to blocking a user's social media content in such a way that they are unaware it’s happening”.

Well TikTok, I’m aware! 

I was at FinCon recently, which took place in Austin, where I met dozen upon dozens of major influencers in the business and finance space. Like myself, they also have millions of social media followers. However, they were not shadowbanned and I was. I got to ask many of them about their opinions on the matter, including one verified TikToker, Dr. Brad Klontz, who believes shadowbanning is fake! 

And so, I gathered my evidence as to why I believed I was shadowbanned and came up with a data-backed analysis. 

Keep in mind that at the time of me writing this post, I currently have 826.2k followers on TikTok alone. However, in the past 90 days, I have had no For You Page exposure. This means that my videos are only being shown to people who already follow me. I am being forbidden of any organic growth and my account is hidden from new users. 

The amazing thing about TikTok is that anybody can go viral due to the nature of the FYP. When this algorithm stops working on your page, it is a tell-tale sign of shadowbanning. 

Because I’m a data and marketing nerd, I wanted to do a test. I heard that if I just made a new TikTok account with the same videos on it, the second account won't get shadowbanned. So, I had my social media super girl assistant download all my old videos and post them to a backup account! What’s fascinating is that the same exact videos that get no FYP exposure on my main account, get tons of exposure and views on my backup account! In just 30 days, the backup account had almost 30k followers! How is it that the account with 800k fewer followers gets more For You exposure? 

How to Check If You Are Shadowbanned

There is a difference between not getting very many views and claiming to be shadowbanned versus actually looking for the signs.

1. Check Your FYP Analytics. If your videos are consistently not making it to the FYP for a month, you are most likely shadowbanned. 

1. Promote Your Content. To really verify if you are shadowbanned, click the 3 little dots on a video. Then, click the promote button. You can choose to promote for whatever you want — views, likes, etc. Set your budget and time zone and start the promotion. If you are shadowbanned, your ad will turn up as Not Approved with no reason other than “not meeting the requirements”. I’ve tried hundreds of times on hundreds of videos and have had no luck. 

Try both of the methods above to determine if you are shadowbanned. If you get any FYP exposure or TikTok lets you run an ad, chances are you are not shadowbanned, your content just isn’t that amazing.

Why & How?

Typically, an account gets shadowbanned for infringing a platform's terms of service. For example, if you post something about violence, your account gets flagged and the video is suspended. This has happened to me about 3 times, all 3 occurrences happening before the past year. 

I talk about business, living in a van, and making money. All of these are arguably pretty safe. I have not had any videos in the past year get taken down. However, there is something I did do. In the past 90 days, I invented a program that teaches people to make money online. As a tactic, I called out the online gurus whose programs are evil and misleading. My product is honest, proven, and ethical while theirs is a deceiving pyramid scheme. If you couldn’t guess, I was promoting the Brambila Method and talking mad smack about Legendary Marketer. 

Legendary Marketer is like the Amazon of the affiliate marketing niche. I was promoting my even better course (which is doing great and is set to beat out LM!) and I believe this made some people made. I have concluded that whether it was organized or not, Legendary Marketer students and followers began reporting my account and it caught TikTok's attention. 

When an account gets reported enough times, a manual review and shadowban are triggered. I’ve talked to other gurus in the space and I’m 99.9% sure this is why my account was shadowbanned. 

What do you think? Is shadowbanning real? Have you ever been shadowbanned? I’d love to hear anything you know about this subject! 

Thanks for reading. Peace and God bless. 

I make new content every single week, so be sure to subscribe to my Youtube and follow my Instagram @brambilabong and TikTok at @AdrianBrambila. I also have tons of resources and courses on my website that you won’t want to miss. Head over to www.adrianbrambila.com to learn more about what I do and how I live a financially free life.