Everything you need to know about getting BLOCKED by Instagram!

If I’m being real here, I’ve totally been blocked before! I am not talking about when someone blocks you specifically although I’m sure I have LOL! Also this is not the same thing as being “shadow banned,” which has never been confirmed to be true.

A special notification will appear on your screen while on the app and it says something along the lines of ” You’ve been temporarily blocked, It looks likes like you were misusing this feature by going too fast.Tell us if you think we made a mistake.”

So not to worry but A) It’s only temporary and will go away and B) You can still use other features of the app.

Some people think that once you get this message you are blocked from using Instagram entirely which is not true! You are blocked from using the feature that you were doing once that message popped up.

How long will the temporary block last?

Now this honestly depends and it’s been different for every person who has been blocked. However, it can last up to 24 hours. If it’s less than that you’re lucky and just try not to do the same thing again!

Here are some ways you can get “temporarily blocked.”

-Liking pictures way too fast

-Liking too many pictures within an hour

-Replying to comments left on your picture too quickly

-“Liking” comments left on your picture too quickly ( when you press the little heart)

-Leaving the same reply to multiple comments on your picture in a short amount of time

-Following a lot people at once

-Unfollowing to many people at once

-Sending too many DM’s in a short period of time.

Notice that if what you are doing on Instagram resembles a bot in any way: doing too much of anything or too fast raises a red flag right away!

How to AVOID getting BLOCKED:

Tip 1: Pace yourself when liking pictures. Take a couple of seconds to look. read caption, and even leave a comment. Pause before going to next picture and do the same!

The time I was blocked I was literally scrolling through my feed so fast & just double tapping. We all feel like we need to catch up sometimes but it’s a reminder to actually engage with the content you see.

Tip 2: When you are replying to comments on your own picture only do at most 15 comments at a time. You want to do it in blocks like this so you don’t get blocked. Try not to reply with the exact same thing too because this can resemble a bot. Also, it’s not genuine if you do the same comment to everyone.

I get in the habit of replying to one comment at a time and then visit that person’s page to show some love. This helps to time everything out and prevent from getting blocked.

Tip 3: Do not just “heart” all your comments at once. You will get blocked if you do this.

Tip 4: Do not follow too many people at any give time, If you get blocked for doing this it will go away pretty quickly. Maybe 30 minutes-hour

Tip 5: Act like a normal person scrolling through Instagram. As bloggers we think of everything as catching up and have other things we need to do as a blogger/influencer. Just SLOW Down!

Well I got BLOCKED, now what do I do?!

Alright, no need to worry there are somethings you can do after you get blocked to help the situation.

Step 1: Reflect on why you got blocked and don’t repeat the same thing. Now that may seem lame but some people will do the same thing over & over again. Hence, they keep getting blocked!

Step 2: Go to settings and report the problem. See below for step by step instructions if you’re not sure how to do it! You can report a problem several times and I have seen that this can help. I feel like it’s because you”re doing it multiple times that it can cause Instagram to look at your problem quicker and address it.

Note: Here you can write out & explain maybe what you were doing and what you’re being blocked for. You can talk about how you’re/blogger influencer and you were just trying to do your job. You can say I was trying to engage with more people since I know that’s what the app is meant for. You can say not being able to interact with people could effect your posting schedule & maybe a campaign that needs to go up. Just plead your case!

Step 3: Try to stay off of Instagram and just put your phone down. Take this as a sign to maybe take care over things or do something for yourself. If you still have to post stories you can still do that too. I would just avoid trying to do the same thing that you are “blocked” for over & over again. Yes, you can check if its been lifted but it could cause the block to last last longer. I have heard of it lasting longer than 24 hours, rare but it’s happened.

To sum it all up:

Take your time with everything you do on Instagram and you will A) not get blocked and B) You will end up being authentic. Now you’re take your time, read captions, reply to people in a thoughtful way, and just be a better blogger/influencer.

I hope that this post was helpful for you whether you’ve been blocked or not, well now ya know! #themoreyouknow

If you’ve ever been blocked before for something I didn’t mention, please leave it in the comment section! Also, if you’ve done something else to help the situation, leave it in the comments so other people will know too!

As usual, thank you for stopping by!

It’s been real.

XOXO,

Liz-Laugh-Love