Apr 11, 2022
shadowbanning is to zoomers as "my computer has a virus" is to boomers
seen from Japan
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shadowbanning is to zoomers as "my computer has a virus" is to boomers
oh my gosh YOURE the reason my activity tab has been acting funky today. it shows the little number but then when i actually click on it, it doesnt show that you reblogged my stuff (probably because you got shadowbanned lol)
LMAO
But wait. It IS showing notifs? 😭
Idk what tumblr is doing with my shadowban at this point. Because I apparently still show up in other people dashes too
They just. refuse to give me my dms back 😔
Is shadowbanning really a thing on other websites? And why? What's the point? Why not just ban the user?
Yes, it's real on Instagram, and maybe Twitter? A little history on the mechanism:
Shadowbanning also goes by Hellbanning. I'm not sure where it originated but early 2000s forums like Something Awful used the mechanism.
The problem with straight-up banning a user, especially if they're a motivated bad actor, is that it's easy enough just to create another account and continue doing what they were doing to cause the ban. Shadowbanning at least played a trick on the user so they couldn't tell they were effectively banned from posting. If the troll or spammer thinks nothing is wrong, they just continue their behavior and it goes nowhere, rather than seeing the ban and creating another account to circumvent it.
It's even funnier when they allow other shadowbanned/hellbanned people to interact with each other, just not regular users. Creates a PvP Hell World.
Nowadays, I suspect shadowbanning provides another benefit to social media: shadowbanned users still see ads. So if an unmotivated user who would normally just stop using the service once they were banned, instead that user now continues to get served ads in their banned state. Plus you get the added benefits described above to deter bad actors.
Ok but honest question
How much of the shadowbans are related to the people you follow? 🤔
Im asking this because I had a shadowbanned account that was like, 100% ded for months, but when I started blocking some of the people I followed with that account (I was playing with the blog before deleting it) at some point the ban got lifted? And I could send messages and be visible again?
I doubt it was just a coincidence. And I lowkey would love testing that now with some burner accounts.
I've added a new section to my faq and I will no longer be answering questions about shadowbanning
Ok but what was the link to send shadowban complains, again?
Edit: ok forget it. I found it
NOOOOOOOOOO
TUMBLR DONT YOU DARE SHADOWBAN ME FOR INVITING PEOPLE TO COMMUNITIES
@staff