I had a few really weird occurrences with my Instagram account @goodcomixmemories. That IG account is the primary business advertising account for this website (I also have a personal account). In fairness, it has also become more than just advertising to sell comic books, it has become a fun hobby to share love of comics with the largely vibrant and supportive comic book community on Instagram. Because I spent time posting my books there, I notice who likes my posts and also, I notice the posts of the regular other accounts I follow.
However, as time has gone by, I have noticed that IG will show you certain accounts but then almost disappear others you follow if you miss liking or commenting on them. I have had to search for certain accounts I used to engage with frequently that had disappeared from my feed (and not because they were not posting.) This was the first strange occurrence.
The other happened just the other day, I had been tagged in a post and happened to notice that an account that I recognized commented on it. I clicked on that account as I was thinking I had not seen his stuff in awhile and figured that IG had done the same thing to that account by “hiding” his posts from me. I was going to go on his page and like a few posts to get the IG algorithm to show me his posts again (the same tactic I have had to use with others). However, after clicking on his page I found out that I was not even following him anymore! I have only unfollowed certain accounts, and I only do it for specific reasons. This account was not one of those. So basically, IG had unfollowed this account for some unknown reason. I followed him again and liked some stuff on his page. He sent me the same message he sent me six months ago saying thanks for the follow…this confirmed for me that IG was up to shenanigans.
This whole thing made me question how many more accounts this has happened to, what other accounts have I had unfollowed and what accounts have I been unfollowed from? On my personal account I have seen a number of pages complain about this (I follow an eclectic range of stuff but any pages that post any viewpoints about the current world situation have had this happen). I have heard some argue that “big tech” is censoring unpopular opinions, I have heard the term shadow banning used. However, I am not sure that provides a complete answer. After all what is so conspiracy about my Ironman books? Why target pages that are about comic books? Either way, it is happening. I am not sure what the answer is, and as time allows, I will be on guard about my account for future occurrences. I thought I would share because, as 80’s children, we are aware that: knowing is half the battle!
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