How to Avoid the ‘Instagram Jail’ Glitch
What is ‘Instagram Jail’?
Recently I have been contacted by LOADS of small business owners who are being put in Instagram jail for 24-48 hours at a time after commenting on posts.
Instagram Jail is a restriction that is being placed on certain accounts on a weekly basis which is very frustrating for them. The punishment comes in the form of not being able to comment on any posts for the duration of their ban. See the notification above that accounts are seeing when they have been restricted.
It Happened to Me Too
This actually happened to my account 2 weeks in a row, both times on a Sunday. The second time it happened, I worked out the trigger was commenting on a particular account's content.
The content was a post that encouraged you to introduce yourself, share what you do and any offers you have currently. Lots of my peers were commenting on the same post with similar content to me with no similar action taken. It was VERY confusing and annoying 😕.
However, once I figured out what causing it I stopped commenting on that particular account's content and it hasn't happened since.
Conclusion
From what I can see, it mainly happens on community-based posts where accounts tag numerous other accounts in the comments OR share what they do and offers they have. It is being incorrectly flagged as spam by Insta bots and the restriction is the result.
I’m pretty sure it’s a big glitch on Instagram’s end which they will hopefully fix soon.
In the meantime...
What Can You Do To Avoid It Happening Again?
Here are my tips if it happens to you:
Make a note of which account/content is triggering the restriction. Avoid engaging with them for a while.
Report it to Instagram using the ‘shake’ / ‘help’ options or via Facebook Chat (if you have access) and wait for the IG gods to sort the glitch out.
I have been messaging business owners on Instagram this week about my findings and asking them to recall which accounts/content they comment on when it happens. Once you know this you can avoid it happening again in the future. Until Instagram resolves the issue at least.
I hope this is helpful!
If you know anyone this is happening to, feel free to forward this blog post on so they know how to avoid it in the future too.
Good luck staying out of IG Jail!
Marielle x
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