Something happened to me and other Instagram users I know recently that made me realize that I was one step away from getting my Instagram account disabled. It is the same kind of mistake that most of us make every time, but it was a wake-up call for me to sit up and fix it.
When Instagram started slamming me with “Your Post Goes Against Our Community Guidelines”, I was really concerned because I can’t remember doing anything offensive or against Instagram’s terms of service. At first, I thought Instagram was going the way of Yahoo before it was sold. If you will remember they were really freaking out and were blocking many people from getting access to their mails. This fear forced me to go on thorough research to know what was going on.
Is it the end of Instagram? What is happening with Instagram? Why are they deleting /disabling their user’s active accounts for no justifiable reason? In the process of asking all these questions, I found my answers. These are the answers I will be sharing with you in this article.
There are some mistakes you must avoid so as not to have your Instagram account disabled or deleted even without any warning. It is happening to so many users, it doesn’t matter how big or active.
Instagram Account Disabled, Why?
Instagram is one of the most popular Social media platforms. Recently, it is fast becoming the business hub among Social Media platforms and a golden opportunity to advertise your business, blog, or just become the “influencer.” While Instagram is a fantastic platform, keep in mind that it’s not the only SOCIAL media platform, and you do not own it. This means If IG deletes your account, you lose everything.
In recent times, Instagram has tightened its policies when it comes to copyrights, following, and advertising. As they are one of the leading platforms in social media, they also get a lot of pressure to let FAKE news, SPAM, or inappropriate content be seen/shared, etc.
So after the elections (United States President), IG started disabling and deleting accounts left and right. Many of you still do not know the reason behind it. But here are some salient RULES you need to keep in mind in order not to get DISABLED.
Generally, Instagram will always refer to the violation of their Terms of Services as the reason they disable or delete accounts. But on their website, this Term of Services is usually ambiguous and not specific enough to know exactly how to avoid making mistakes they will term as a violation. You will see something like the following;
“Posting illegal activities, hate speech, nudity, or graphic violence will get your account disabled. Instagram doesn’t provide precise guidance for why accounts are disabled, but it does say that it results from violating community guidelines or terms of use.”
- Posting illegal activities: it is vague
- Hate speech: how do you defined hate speech?
- Nudity: relatively clear
- Graphic violence: what does that even mean?
The above are the four mistakes you must not make on Instagram but #2 is the most deadly. Somehow, we found out that Instagram has saliently censored some words that you must be careful when you use them. The first time I got slammed with the “Your Post Goes Against Our Community Guidelines” was when I made an innocent post referring to someone as my partner in crime. Apparently, the word CRIME is considered offensive.
To avoid your Instagram Account being disabled, avoid any abusive or apparently censored words or phrases. How do you know them, I will provide a list of about 40 words that have gotten big Instagram accounts of over one million followers disabled.
Other Common Reasons Why Instagram Accounts are Disabled
In the name of tightening the loop for all the spammers and fake accounts, Instagram is unwittingly hurting innocent users. Below are a few other reasons why Instagram may disable users’ accounts. Unlike the first, they may give a warning before disabling the account for the following grounds.
Instagram Account Disabled Because of Copyright Issues
USING PICTURES, VIDEOS, TEXT without approval. Somehow there is no way back once you get reported for Copyright infringement. Instagram has become very strict about it. I understand that some people (photographers) put tons of work and time into their content, and then someone decides to use it for Free and grow the following, which is not a fair game. As we know, to succeed on IG, you need unique content to stand out.
I always tell my clients to never REPOST pictures without asking the owner if they are okay with the repost on your account and add CREDITS. Next, do not use pictures from GOOGLE. You might just start and do not have the budget for a photographer or don’t know how to take photos by yourself. But using pictures from GOOGLE or PINTEREST without permission will bring your account trouble at one point.
Can you imagine you are starting your account, and in the beginning, you use pictures from here and there… At one point, your account grows, and you have a decent following, great sales, and reach… And then, all of a sudden, your account gets disabled… And the reason is a copyright issue.
Instead, use stock photos; one good option is Shutterstock or if you wish to stand out more with designs and pictures, use Canva. These are great and low-cost options.
Follow/Unfollow Can Get Your Instagramm Account Disabled
Follow/unfollow method will get you into lets of trouble. For those who are not familiar with what is follow /unfollow; It`s basically that you follow X amount of people to hope they follow back.
Yes, it can work sometimes. But I find it completely useless, as you are following people you never engage with, so YES, you have a number, but no one still cares about your posts unless your content is VERY UNIQUE and STANDS out.
The best way to grow on social media is by building relationships. If you follow someone, make sure you regularly comment, engage with them, and like this, you will have a ripple effect. If you are serious about growing your Instagram followers, then in 2021 you need to have an AD BUDGET.
With the new rule, IG disables accounts that unfollow way too many people in one go. It just happened to a client of mine. As she was following way over 6000 people, we needed to get the following down. A week later, we were disabled. So heavy unfollow is quite dangerous for your account.
Using Third Party Apps Can Also Get Your Account Disabled
I believe IG still has some glitch on their system in terms of that. Or they are trying to push other “scheduling businesses” out of business as now Facebook has its own CREATOR Studio.
I don’t know what their plan is over there, but many accounts have been deleted for the reason that they use 3rd party apps. And looks like sometimes it includes other Scheduling apps such as Planonly, Tailwind, or Hootesuite.
Multiple Report Also Get Your Account Disabled
In case, you are wondering why that Fake account you reported for using your pictures, has not been brought down, it is because you are probably the only one reporting that account. The key is multiple reports. When an account is reported by more than 5 other accounts for nudity, violence, a threat to life, etc, that account will be disabled.
Too Much Frequent Activities can Also Get you in Trouble
The keyword here is frequent. There are some activities that are almost as if you are superhuman. A good example is liking about 100 posts within 2 minutes. You are expected to read a post before deciding whether you like it or not, this might take you up to 30 seconds to see, read and like 1 post. So, liking over 50 posts in 2 minutes will make the algorithm suspect foul play.
No contact Details Like Phone Number, Email
Instagram will delete your account faster if it doesn’t have a phone number or email address when any suspicious activity is noticed. It is already considered a spam account, and once you reach a certain level of activity, you will come across this message like:
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