Tag: Social

How to Tell if You’re Shadowbanned on Social Media

Suddenly you notice that none of your social media activity seems to be showing up at all. It’s like you don’t even exist on the site… Weird!

Is it a bug? Every website suffers from them sometimes, and the interactive features can often be the first to go haywire. Server maintenance could also be the culprit.

But another possibility is that you might have been “shadowbanned” (previously called ghostbanned).

Accounts that are shadowbanned are put into a kind of invisible mode. In other words, they become a “shadow” that no one can see.

In this post, we’ll talk more about what exactly shadowbanning is, and how you can tell if it happened to you.

What Is Shadowbanning?

Shadowbanning is when your posts or activity don’t show up on a site, but you haven’t received an official ban or notification.

It’s a way to let spammers continue to spam without anyone else in the community (or outside of it) seeing what they do.

That way, other social media users don’t suffer from spam because they can’t see it. The spammer won’t immediately start to look for ways to get around the ban, because they don’t even realize they’ve been banned.

Now, all of this might sound a little odd or shady. Since many websites and apps deny that they shadowban, there’s no way to know for sure that it’s happened.

If you suspect a shadowban, a change in the website’s search or newsfeed algorithm might actually be to blame. And since the algorithms are the property of social media companies, it’s not in their best interest to reveal everything about them publicly.

Regardless of whether you’ve been penalized deliberately or accidentally, the effect is still the same… no one can see your posts.

Sites That Shadowban

There’s no way of getting a full list of sites that shadowban people, since the practice isn’t entirely out in the open.

However, shadowbanning has been reported before under certain circumstances, on sites and apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, among others. 

Respondents to a survey called Posting Into the Void reported four general types of shadowbans:

  • a username or hashtag not showing up in search suggestions
  • a decrease in follower engagement
  • certain features (e.g. likes or replies) being blocked
  • a temporary ban that then reverts back to normal later on

Here’s how to tell if you’ve been shadowbanned on some popular social media sites:

Twitter Shadowbanning

Does Twitter actually shadowban people? Well, yes and no.

In a blog post, Twitter claimed that they don’t “deliberately make people’s content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it”, and they “certainly don’t shadowban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”

However, they did say they “rank tweets and search results” to “address bad-faith actors”. Basically, if Twitter thinks you’re a spammer or a troll, its algorithm will penalize your content.

How to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned by Twitter

Twitter lists these as some of the factors they use to tell if you’re a “bad-faith actor” or not:

  • Whether or not you’ve confirmed your email address
  • Whether you’ve uploaded a profile picture
  • How recently your account was created
  • Who you follow and retweet
  • Who mutes, follows, retweets, and blocks you

To avoid getting shadowbanned on Twitter, you should confirm your email address and upload a profile picture.

Don’t spam people and don’t be overly promotional. If you’re trying to sell a product or service and are posting too much, other users might block your content, causing a shadowban on your account.

You should also try to avoid trolling, getting into online arguments, or being too confrontational in your posts and comments. This can lead people to mute or block you.

How to Tell If You’re Shadowbanned on Twitter

There’s no way to tell for sure if you’ve been shadowbanned on Twitter. However, you could try using the site Shadowban.eu, which claims to be able to detect a shadowban.

how to check if you are shadowbanned on Twitter

Instagram Shadowbanning

How frustrating is it to work hard at building up an Instagram following, only to see that your posts suddenly aren’t showing up?

Like with Twitter, Instagram’s CEO has publicly claimed that “shadowbanning is not a thing”, but as with Twitter, that’s not entirely true.

While you personally might not be being shadowbanned, the algorithm could still be hiding your posts.

Instagram’s algorithm is designed to remove certain content. Namely, the algorithm penalizes content that Instagram considers “inappropriate”, even if the content doesn’t go against the app’s Community Guidelines.  

Specifically, they mention sexually-suggestive content. According to their Community Guidelines, spammy content and content associated with illegal activity or violence is also a no-go.

Instagram prefers “photos or videos that are appropriate for a diverse audience”… so less family-friendly content may be at risk of a shadowban.  

How to Tell If You’re Shadowbanned on Instagram

There’s no surefire way to tell if you’ve been shadowbanned on Instagram, but there are sites that say they can test it. Triberr is one option.

how to check if you are shadowbanned on Instagram

Reddit Shadowbanning

Shadowbanning on Reddit is a bit different from shadowbanning on other social media sites. Up until 2015, Reddit openly shadowbanned users who broke the site’s rules by hiding their posts.

Reddit then announced that the shadowbanning system had been replaced with an account suspension system. Basically, some Reddit staff thought that the shadowban tool had been useful for dealing with bots, but that banning real human users without telling them what they did wrong was unfair.

However, the site appears to still occasionally be using shadowbans, with the r/ShadowBan subreddit still active.

According to their official content policy, Reddit may enforce their rules by “removal of privileges from, or adding restrictions to, accounts”, and also by “removal of content”, among other methods.  

How to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned on Reddit

Of course, to avoid getting shadowbanned on Reddit, you’ll need to follow their rules. But one tricky thing about that is that the rules on Reddit actually depend on the subreddit you are submitting to.

You’ll want to read and comment a lot first before submitting your own links. Watch how people react to various types of submissions within a specific subreddit, and then act accordingly.

You can also check out this unofficial guide on how to avoid being shadowbanned. Some key points:

  • Don’t spam or post too many links to your own content (if you post a lot of other things too, posting one or two links to your own work is OK)
  • Don’t harass or constantly downvote another user
  • Don’t dox others or encourage doxxing (posting someone’s personal information without their consent)
  • Don’t post illegal or inappropriate content
  • Don’t abuse moderators or admins

How to Tell if You’re Shadowbanned on Reddit

To find out if you’re shadowbanned on Reddit, make a post in the r/ShadowBan subreddit. A bot will respond to you, letting you know if you’re shadowbanned.

Even if you’re not, the bot will tell you which posts of yours have been removed recently (if any).  

You could also use a third-party tool, like Am I Shadowbanned?

How to check if you are shadowbanned on Reddit

TikTok Shadowbanning

TikTok is a popular social network for sharing short videos. Unfortunately, you can get shadowbanned there too (kind of).

While there’s no official mention of the term “shadowban” in TikTok’s Community Guidelines, like other social media networks, TikTok uses algorithms to privilege certain content. If you get on the wrong side of the algorithm, fewer people might see the content you post.

To have more people see your content and avoid penalties, try to follow best practices for TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, and always follow the Community Guidelines.

Stay away from illegal material, violence, hate speech, spam, and other similar topics.

To check if you’ve been shadowbanned on TikTok, look at your pageviews and “For You” page statistics. You can also use a hashtag and see if your post shows up under that hashtag.

Facebook Shadowbanning

Facebook calls its content moderation policy “remove, reduce, and inform.”

Basically, content that violates Facebook’s Community Standards will be removed from the site, while other undesirable content (like misleading information) may be less visible on Facebook or have a warning label placed on it.

If Facebook is consistently “reducing” your content, that could be considered a type of shadowban.

The main thing you can do to trigger a shadowban on Facebook is to share links to fake or misleading information. Content on the site is checked by independent fact-checking organizations.

Facebook also penalizes links from websites that its algorithm considers clickbait. Low-authority websites without a lot of inbound and outbound links that generate a lot of clicks on Facebook may be considered clickbait.

Facebook groups where a lot of misleading links and clickbait are frequently shared may be shadowbanned.

If you’re worried your personal page, business page, or group might have been shadowbanned on Facebook, check for a change in engagement levels on your recent posts.

LinkedIn Shadowbanning

While people don’t often think about getting shadowbanned on LinkedIn, it’s possible for your content’s reach to be throttled there.

Like other social media sites, LinkedIn has Community Policies that all members need to follow to avoid problems.

Since LinkedIn is a professional site, its content policies are even stricter than other platforms. Not only should your content be safe, legal, and appropriate, it has to be professional as well.

Although LinkedIn is obviously a place for career growth and self-promotion, spamming people is still a no-go.

You’ll need to respect others’ privacy and intellectual property. You should also avoid harassment or unwanted romantic advances towards other members.

If you violate LinkedIn’s policies, they may “limit the visibility of certain content, or remove it entirely.”

That said, the LinkedIn algorithm is pretty complicated. Even if your content is perfectly professional and high-quality, it might still not be getting the reach you want.

Engagement and relevance are the top two factors to keep in mind when creating content for LinkedIn.  

YouTube Shadowbanning

While it’s not exactly a social network, it’s definitely still a site where people go to learn and share content. Can you be shadowbanned from YouTube?

Well, YouTube shadowbanning has been in the news because of popular creator PewDiePie. According to his fans, the Swedish videogame YouTuber’s channel was penalized in YouTube search.

YouTube’s official response was that it doesn’t shadowban channels, but that some videos might be flagged and need to be reviewed before they show up in search.

In an interview with Polygon, they said they were “currently working on fixing the issue.” 

7 Ways to Avoid Getting Shadowbanned on Social Media

Different social networks have their own opinions on what type of violations merit a shadowban. However, we can definitely see some general trends that are worth noting.

Adhere to these guidelines if you want to be safe from a shadowban:

  1. Always stick to the Terms of Service
  2. Follow and watch power users in your category (see what and how they share)
  3. Don’t post links or copy-pasted content over and over
  4. If you’re unsure if the content is appropriate, avoid sharing it
  5. Treat others politely and respectfully
  6. Don’t use banned hashtags
  7. Avoid posting about illegal topics

Conclusion

You may not have any idea you are being shadowbanned. At least not at first… though over time, you may begin to suspect it.

What you should do to protect yourself is to be careful that what you post isn’t against the terms and conditions of the site or app. Also, try to avoid spamming content, starting fights with and trolling other users, or posting things that might be considered inappropriate.

A shadowban can be frustrating, especially if you don’t feel like you deserve one. Maybe you don’t agree with the social media algorithm about what is or isn’t inappropriate, or maybe you think you were having a constructive debate while the algorithm thinks you were being a troll.

However, hopefully the tips in this guide can help you avoid being shadowbanned in the future, so your content can get better engagement.

What other ways can help people know if they’ve been shadowbanned? Let us know in the comments.

The post How to Tell if You’re Shadowbanned on Social Media appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Use Instagram Filters in Paid Social Media Campaigns

One billion – that’s how many people use Instagram each month.

With such a huge, highly engaged audience, you can bet the competition between brands is tough. This is why small details can make all the difference, and Instagram filters could play a part in making your social media campaigns more successful.

What are Instagram Filters?

Everywhere you look, marketing advice says you need high-quality images to succeed on platforms like Instagram. But what if you’re not a professional photographer?

This is where Instagram filters can be a game-changer for your marketing and particularly your paid social media campaigns—they can make your images look as sleek as if they’d been professionally shot.

Here’s an example of an unfiltered image vs. its filtered twin:

Unfiltered instagram photo of boats on water
Instagram photo of boats on water using clarendon filter

Not only do Instagram filters make things look cleaner, but they also allow you to edit your image with one click. Where most editors make you alter contrast, saturation, and so forth individually, Instagram lets you pick a pre-set filter that suits your image—though you can tweak them if you’d like.

While these filters have been around since 2011, they’ve taken off in recent years. With the added capabilities of augmented reality (AR) technology—which adds imaginary images to those of the real world—they can significantly impact your social media campaigns.

Why Should You Use Instagram Filters in Your Paid Posts?

Social media platforms are competitive, and standing out from the crowd isn’t easy. If you’re going to get the best cost per click with your paid social media campaigns, then your brand needs to grab attention and drive engagement.

When you run an Instagram ad, you don’t have much real estate to work with, so you’ve got to find ways to draw your audience in with the limited space you have.

If you can combine innovative use of filters with creative images and excellent text, then you could achieve exceptional results— as Opel did with their “Opel Adam” campaign. In just two weeks, the campaign achieved a 2.5x increase in registrations and significantly lowered Opel’s cost per registration.

It’s possible to achieve the same results for your business, but you’ve got to make the most of the tools available to you.

If only 18% of Instagram posts use a filter, this means you’ve got an opportunity to make your content stand out over the other 82%. Research shows that AR filters have an average dwell time of 75 seconds, which is four times that of even video content—so using it can make a huge difference.

Social media platforms crave engagement, and if your advertisements give them that, you may find you reach more people for less—and Instagram filters are one of the best tools to help you achieve this.

How to Use Instagram Filters for Your Paid Campaigns

Turning your posts into paid campaigns through the Instagram app couldn’t be easier. All you need is a business or creator account, and then you can get set up with your paid ads.

  1. Click the profile icon in the bottom right-hand corner.
  2. Select promotions.
  3. Choose a post to promote. Instagram will prompt you to use your top post, but you can select any of your previous posts to promote.
  4. Select where to send people— your profile, website, or direct messages.
  5. Define your audience. The easiest option is to choose “automatic,” which targets people similar to your followers, but you can create your own.
  6. Choose your budget, setting your daily cost and how long you want the campaign to run for.
  7. Review and publish.

 

how to use instagram filters for your paid campaigns

To create a promotion through the app, you need to have already created your post or story. Luckily, Instagram makes it exceedingly easy to snap an image on the go, add a great filter, and promote it within seconds.

Tips for Picking the Right Instagram Filter for Your Campaign 

The right Instagram filter might be a quick way to give your images the professional touch, but the wrong filter can have the opposite effect. When you’re choosing your filter, keep these three points in mind:

  • Your images reflect your brand
  • Consistency works well on social media
  • Don’t go filter crazy

Your images help define your brand, so the filters you choose matter. Your filters should reflect the mood of the product or service you’re promoting, and you need to stay consistent with this.  

A great example of this is JetBlue’s Instagram account. You can easily spot how consistency has allowed them to develop their own simple yet effective style by using similar image styles, colors, and more.

Screenshot of JetBlues use of Instagram filters

While the right filter can make things look amazing, “over filtering” can have the opposite effect. You don’t want to alter things so much that they look surreal. Instagram filters are optimized to please, so it’s often worth sticking to the tried and tested rather than over-editing.

If you’re looking for inspiration, Canva studied the most popular filters, and Clarendon, Gingham, and Juno came out on top.

Instagram Filters for Posts

Adding filters to your Instagram posts couldn’t be easier. In five simple steps, you can post amazing images that grab your audience’s attention.

  1. Click the + button at the center of your home screen.
  2. Select the image you want to use from your library, or select “photo” or “video” to create a new one. Click next.
  3. Choose your filter from the list at the bottom of the screen. Remember, you can add more by clicking manage at the end of the reel.
  4. Add your caption, tag people in your posts, post your location, and choose other social platforms you would like to post to.
  5. Hit share.
Guide to Adding Instagram Filters for Posts

Instagram Filters for Stories 

Instagram stories allow you to post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours. One-third of the most viewed Instagram stories are created by businesses, so they are an excellent way to make your posts go further.

The process of posting stories with filters is just as simple as with posts, but you’ll notice a lot more options when it comes to AR filters.

For a live video or image:

  1. Select your profile icon.
  2. Hit the + button in the top left-hand corner.
  3. Select “story” from the pop-up menu.
  4. Use your camera to take live video or images, or select an existing one from your library by clicking on the image in the bottom left-hand corner.
  5. Choose between your front-facing and rear-facing camera if you’re taking a live image.
  6. Select your filter from the reel at the bottom.
  7. Tap the center button to take a picture or hold the button to take a video.
  8. Use the editing buttons in the top right-hand corner to add extra filters, overlay text, or download to your library.
  9. Hit “send to” and select where to share your story.
A step by step guide to adding Instagram filters for stories

Bonus Instagram Filter Tip

If you’re scrolling through Instagram and see a filter you like, you can save it to use on your own stories.

  1. Go to the profile of the person with the filter you like.
  2. Click the smiley face emoji to see all their filters.
  3. You can save it by clicking the down arrow or try it on.
  4. When you’re trying on the filter, click the drop-down menu.
  5. From here, you can save the effect or send it immediately as a story.
  6. The next time you send a story, the filter will be ready for you to use.

Instagram Filters for Faces

When you created your first story pin, you likely noticed there are a lot of things you can do to your face with AR.

AR allows you to add computer-generated effects over the live image you see on your camera. For example, if you want to see what you look like wearing sunglasses, there’s an AR filter for that. The sunglasses appear on your face and follow you as you move.

There are endless Instagram filters with AR, which gives you more options to engage your audience. However, as with any Instagram filters, it’s essential to find the ones that suit your brand.

Some companies have had great success with AR filters on Instagram, such as this one by Ray-ban. But if you’re going to use these filters, then you’ve got to make sure you stay on-brand.

Rayban Instagram Filter of woman with antlers

To create a story with AR filters, simply follow these steps:

  1. Select your profile icon.
  2. Hit the + button in the top left-hand corner.
  3. Select “story” from the pop-up menu.
  4. Choose between front- and rear-facing camera.
  5. Slide between the filters at the bottom and watch as your face is brought to life with AR.
  6. For more effects, slide to the end of the reel and select “browse effects.”
  7. Choose a filter.
  8. Click the middle button to take a photo, hold to take a video.
  9. Click send and then select where to share.
Instagram filters for faces

Other Instagram Features to Help Your Paid Campaign

One of the reasons Instagram is so popular with advertisers is because it gives you lots of tools to give your paid campaign extra oomph. The beautiful thing about it is it’s so easy for anyone to add filters, gifs, text, and music to their images.

While a recent study found that images without text overlay generally perform better than those with text, marketing is all about finding the message that engages your audience, so it’s worth experimenting to find the formula that works for you.

These Instagram features give you added options when it comes to reaching and engaging your target audience.

Adding Gifs

Gifs provide a great middle-ground between static images and video. They were talked about as a big marketing trend, and while AR has taken over somewhat, they’re still a handy tool for your paid Instagram campaigns.

A gif is a quick and easy way to add something extra to your story, and once again, Instagram makes it exceptionally easy to do:

  1. Select your profile icon.
  2. Hit the + button in the top left-hand corner.
  3. Select “story” from the pop-up menu.
  4. Choose between front and rear-facing cameras or open your library via the icon in the bottom left-hand corner.
  5. Take a picture, or choose an image from your library.
  6. Choose the square smiley face at the top of the screen.
  7. Select gifs, or use the search bar to find a specific gif.
  8. Make your gif bigger or smaller by pinching in or out with two fingers and drag it into position.
  9. Select “send” to and choose who you want to see your story.

Adding Text

Instagram might be a very visual platform, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t use for text. The right use of text can help give your posts and stories context, grabbing people’s attention and linking the image to your brand.

Text is a vital part of Instagram because this is where you make use of one of the most important features: hashtags.

Hashtags not only help people find your posts, but they also boost engagement and allow you to zero in on what’s popular in your industry. The statistics show that Instagram posts with even just one hashtag can see an increase in engagement of 12.6%. So with only a little extra text, you can give your campaigns a better chance of success.

You can also use text overlay on your stories. You’re in control of your text’s font, color, and look, which means you have another way of giving your images a professional look.

To add text overlay to your stories, simply:

  1. Select your profile icon.
  2. Hit the + button in the top left-hand corner.
  3. Select “story” from the pop-up menu.
  4. Select your image or video.
  5. Click the “Aa” in the top right-hand corner.
  6. Type your text.
  7. Choose your font, color, and effects, using the tools at the top of the screen.
  8. Hit “done.”
  9. Select “send to” and choose your audience.

Adding Music

Music has always played an important part in advertising. Music helps make advertisements more memorable, evokes emotion, builds the story, and accentuates the brand, so it can be an essential tool.

While some people will use Instagram with the sound off, Instagram makes it so easy to add features such as music that you don’t lose anything by using them.

Again, make sure whatever you choose fits your brand and is going to engage your audience.

Here’s how you can add music to your Instagram stories:

  1. Select your profile icon.
  2. Hit the + button in the top left-hand corner.
  3. Select “story” from the pop-up menu.
  4. Choose between front and rear-facing cameras or open your library via the icon in the bottom left-hand corner.
  5. Take a picture or choose an image from your library.
  6. Choose the square smiley face at the top of the screen.
  7. Click the music icon.
  8. Choose your song.
  9. Edit which part of the song you want to showcase, clip duration, and how you want to credit the song.
  10. Click “done.”
  11. Move the music sticker, making it bigger or smaller to suit your image.
  12. Hit “send to” and select your audience.

Instagram Filter Features Within Other Photography Apps

You might be thinking, “I want my Instagram posts to stand out, so why would I use the most common filters such as Clarendon?” While many brands find success with Instagram’s filters, you have other options if you choose to go that route.

To help you with this, there are lots of photography apps that have curated Instagram filters you can pay for or give you the ability to create your own, including:

  • VSCO
  • Afterlight
  • A Color Story
  • Tezza
  • Spark AR

You may have to invest some time in finding or creating the perfect Instagram filter, but once it’s saved to your Instagram account, you can add it to all your posts and stories in seconds.

Conclusion

The right Instagram filter can immediately improve your images and give your brand an identity. When you’re running paid media campaigns, you want to give your images and videos every chance of standing out from the crowd, and filters can help you achieve this.

Instagram makes it incredibly easy to add this extra element to your posts. Turn your images into posts that people want to engage with and share, then watch how they may improve your paid social media campaigns.

What’s the go-to Instagram filter for your brand?

 

The post How to Use Instagram Filters in Paid Social Media Campaigns appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Get Verified on Social Media

Getting verified on social media is one of the first steps to building a successful social media marketing strategy.

Whether it’s your personal account, your business account, or both, getting that little checkmark next to the profile name is massively important.

And not so that you look like one of the ‘cool kids.’

A verified social media account provides instant social proof and credibility when anyone looks up to you or your company online.

Verification can also help with networking and push your company to your industry’s forefront as a trusted option.

Getting verified on social media can be a challenge, and it might take some time, but it is definitely worth it.

But maybe you’ve already tried to become verified, and you were rejected.

Or perhaps you don’t know where to start.

Unless you’ve got a huge following like Beyonce, becoming a verified account takes some commitment and trial and error.

how to get verified on social media Beyoncé example

If you’ve tried to become verified before and you’ve been rejected, you’re probably not following the rules closely enough. For some sites, it’s a lot harder than others to show your worth.

But don’t give up.

I’m going to explain why your business isn’t verified on social media.

We’ll then walk through how to become verified on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

Why Getting Verified on Social Media Matters

Twitter was one of the first social media platforms to introduce verification, and it took a while for it to become as important as it is today.

It began as a way for the platform to identify which Twitter accounts belonged to celebrities.

Now, getting verified on social media tells users which accounts belong to brands, companies, and influencers.

Basically, social media verification serves as an instant way to tell other users, “Hey, this account isn’t just your average Joe — pay attention to it!”

This is especially useful for trying to target younger users, who are the prime social-media demographic.

About 60% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29. Twitter is checked by 81% of Millennials every day.

Having that badge of proof means that your account is worth following, paying attention to, and interacting with. It’s how you know it’s really me on Facebook:

get verified on social media example neil patel

It immediately shows customers that any other accounts with that name are fake.

Which isn’t as huge of a problem for me as it is for mega-brands like Walmart. Check out this fake Walmart YouTube account:

get verified on social media fake account

Looks pretty legit at first glance, right?

There’s an official Walmart logo as the profile picture, and the description even says, “Walmart Official YouTube Channel.”

But upon further inspection, the account only has two video uploads and three subscribers.

So this fake account was probably created to gain followers, create a scam, or even potentially destroy Walmart’s brand by impersonating the company.

Based on the videos on this channel, it was probably created to use the Walmart name to gain subscribers or views:

un verified on social media account example

See how much trouble it is to find out if the account is real or not? Since it has no checkmark, we can guess it’s probably not the real deal.

But not every brand or company is verified, including Walmart’s official YouTube page when I first wrote this article. (Today, they’ve jumped on the verification bandwagon.)

walmart unverified social media account example

So you can’t be sure until you evaluate things like the account’s number of followers and the kind of content on the page.

If it had a checkmark, there would be no guessing or research.

The benefits of verification are pretty easy to identify, and while the process can be easier said than done, it’s pretty painless overall.

The processes for getting verified are unique to each social media platform. So let’s go through the big ones.

Here’s how you can get verified on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

1. How to Get Verified on Facebook

Facebook’s blue verification checkmark identifies media organizations, global brands, or public figures (like Khloe Kardashian).

The gray checkmark means that businesses (like Starbucks) or certain pages in specific locations are authentic.

Facebook for Influencers

get verified on social media facebook example

To verify your personal account to become an influencer in your industry, begin by ensuring that your Facebook page is updated.

Add a recent profile picture and make sure your profile information is all filled out.

If you haven’t been posting regularly (on Facebook or any social media platform), you’ll need to wait until you’ve regularly posted for a consistent amount of time before trying to verify it.

You’ll also need to make sure your account is authentic, unique, complete, and notable, according to Facebook:

get verified on social media facebook requirements

If you’ve completed these steps already, head to Facebook’s Request a Blue Verification Badge form.

Select the kind of page you’re looking to verify and complete the form accordingly by providing an email address, official website link, and more:

get verified on social media facebook requirements screenshot

Be sure you have a digital copy of your ID since Facebook will use this upload to verify that it’s really you.

Facebook will process the request within a few days, but it could take a few weeks, so be on the lookout for their reply.

Facebook for Businesses

how to get verified on social media fakebook businesses

Business verification on Facebook confirms the account actually belongs to the business.

To verify your business’s Facebook account, head to your Business Manager, then look for security settings. Note that not all businesses need to be verified — and you might not be eligible. For example, if you use Monthly Invoicing to pay for ads, you won’t have to submit any documentation.

Once you find Security Settings, click on the Confirm Identity button. Submit a photo ID or upload the requested documentation. Enter your business details, then select your business from the list.

Then, select a phone number you can access from the list provided or select Use Domain Verification button. You can also select to have the verification code delivered by text or email.

Enter the verification code, and hit Submit.

You should expect to hear back from Facebook about verifying a business page within a few days. You will get a notification on your personal Facebook page when it’s been approved.

2. Get Verified on Twitter

According to Twitter, verification indicates an “account of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.”

So if your account doesn’t fit into any of these areas, trying to verify it is pointless.

But if you do, Twitter gives some verification tips to increase your chances of getting verified.

For example, you have to have:

  1. A verified phone number
  2. A confirmed email address
  3. A bio
  4. A profile photo
  5. A header photo
  6. A website
  7. A birthday (if your account is not a company, brand, or organization accounts)
  8. Tweets set as public in Tweet privacy settings

Once you’ve met all these criteria, you can submit a formal verification request. (Note: Twitter sometimes puts their verification process on hold. If that happens, you’ll have to try back another time.)

get verified on Twitter

Be sure to fill out the form and include some backstory, in 500 characters or less, about why Twitter should verify your account.

You’ll also have to provide some website links that back up your claims.

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You can expect to hear back from Twitter within about a week.

3. Get Verified on Instagram

Out of all social media platforms, Instagram is probably the most selective when handing out verified badges.

According to Instagram, “Accounts representing well-known figures and brands are verified because they have a high likelihood of being impersonated.”

“We want to make sure that people in the Instagram community can easily find the authentic people and brands they want to follow.”

So becoming verified was pretty easy for someone like Justin Bieber:

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If you’ve already got a huge following or you’re a mega brand, Instagram will probably go ahead and verify your page without you having to do anything:

get verified on Instagram

But if you’re not, focus on these two key tactics in the meantime:

  1. Build your following and post engaging images.
  2. Add as much identity-supporting information as possible to your profile to make it appear, official, even though there’s no checkmark.

If you take the time to make your account legitimate without having the official Instagram seal of approval, people will notice.

And hopefully, after a while, Instagram will too.

4. Get Verified on LinkedIn

Since LinkedIn is like Facebook of the professional world, you might think that their verification process would be a lot like Facebook’s.

But it’s not. The LinkedIn verification process works a little bit differently.

LinkedIn hands out check marks on the LinkedIn Lookup app.

These checkmarks prove that someone actually works for the company they’ve specified.

get verified on social media LinkedIn example

And this checkmark is miraculously easy to get.

All you have to do is request verification from LinkedIn and wait for a four-digit code to land in your business email address.

Then, enter the code into LinkedIn Lookup, and ta-da! You’re verified.

However, if someone doesn’t have a checkmark on LinkedIn, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their profile isn’t legit.

It probably just means they haven’t completed the verification process yet.

Another way to prove your credibility on LinkedIn is to get an invite to its Influencer program, like Bill Gates.

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Since LinkedIn doesn’t allow people to apply to the Influencer program, your chances of joining the club with Bill Gates aren’t super high.

But, LinkedIn will be more likely to notice you if you start publishing your content on their platform.

You can also get a gold LinkedIn logo by upgrading to a Premium Membership as I did.

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Anyone who pays for a Premium Membership gets this logo, but it makes things look a bit more official than those who don’t have it.

5. Get Verified on YouTube

Verifying your YouTube account and verifying your YouTube channel have almost nothing to do with one another, but they’re usually thought of as the same thing.

Here’s the difference between each kind of verification and why they’re both important.

Step 1. Verifying Your YouTube Account

Usually, this can be done once you first make a YouTube account.

YouTube will remind you at the top of your video manager page to give a cell phone number to tie to your account.

Once you’ve done this, and you should, YouTube will send you a verification code that you can enter in to prove that your account is real.

Completing this step is crazy important because you’ll get to enjoy these additional features:

  • Uploads longer than 15 minutes
  • Add customized thumbnails to your videos.
  • Live stream
  • Appeal content ID claims
get verified on social media youTube example

Step 2. Verify Your YouTube Channel

This is that the almighty little checkmark is placed next to a YouTube channel name.

get verified on social media vox youtube example

And tons of creators are trying to get it.

To get it, you’ll need at least 100,000 subscribers and then apply for verification.

They’ll look to see if your channel is authentic and complete and give you the badge.

6. Get a Verified Account on Pinterest

Being verified on Pinterest means that users will know that it’s really your company pinning to boards on the platform. It will display a red checkmark and your URL at the top of your page, like this:

get verified on social media pinterest example

To start, make sure that the Pinterest account is a business one and not a personal one.

Then, confirm your website.

Next, include a “Pin It” button on your site.

From there, change your profile picture to your business logo.

To start, select the “Settings” option:

get verified on social media Pinterest screenshot

Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you added in your website URL.

You’ll also want to connect your Instagram, Youtube, and Etsy accounts, if you have them.

Then, click the Verify Website button to the right:

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Click that, and the following instructions will appear.

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Follow each step accordingly, and Pinterest will notify you in a few days if you’ve been approved.

7. Get Verified on Snapchat

On Snapchat, verified users get something a bit different than the typical check mark.

They get an emoji of their choice.

For example, Kim Kardashian owns the 🍑 emoji:

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This is important because it’s virtually impossible to find a Snapchat user unless you know exactly what their account name is.

But with the use of emojis, finding any “verified” account becomes easy.

You don’t need to know their account name. You can enter their actual name.

Which is perfect for celebrity accounts like Justin Bieber or Kylie Jenner, since their account names are “rickthesizzler” and “kylizzlemynizzl.”

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Snapchat has recently taken this a step further by providing a list of related accounts to follow when you scan a code with your phone’s camera:

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It looks like this will be the status quo for verification on Snapchat for awhile.

If you have a substantial following on the app, reach out to Snapchat representatives and find out if your account is worthy of verification.

You’ll have to provide some proof of your identity if you’re lucky enough to get them to agree to verify your account.

If you aren’t a Snapchat VIP, it might not be worth taking these steps to verify your account.

But, you never know if Snapchat will say yes or no, so it doesn’t hurt to just ask.

You can contact Snapchat through their “Contact Us” web page.

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If they deny your request, you can always inquire about becoming verified at a later date once you’ve built an even larger following on their platform.

The more followers and connections you have on the app, the better chances you’ll have of Snapchat verifying you on the social media app.

8. Get Verified on TikTok 

There are two different types of social media verification on TikTok: the blue check, for brands and organizations, and the yellow check, for public figures and famous creators.

get verified on tiktok

Currently, you cannot apply to be verified by TikTok, but that option may be available soon. If you have any questions, the sites suggest sending an email to verification_feedback@tiktok.com.

Conclusion

Getting verified on social media isn’t a one-size-fits-all task.

It actually isn’t even possible on all social media networks — Reddit, for example, does not verify any accounts.

If you’ve tried to become verified on social media platforms and were rejected, try to follow the platform’s requirements more closely.

Then, submit your request again once you’ve met all of the criteria.

If you do it right, you can get those check-mark credentials that everyone desires to help you build brand awareness.

Which social media platforms do you think are most important for verification?

The post How to Get Verified on Social Media appeared first on Neil Patel.

Producing Strategies For Social Network Marketing

Producing Strategies For Social Network Marketing When producing a social media network advertising and marketing service on a severe budget plan the bright side is that, one of the most efficient methods, which you can make use of, are cost-free when using social networking web sites. You can initially start with post advertising. Creating write-ups … Continue reading Producing Strategies For Social Network Marketing

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security?

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security?

The Social Security is moneyed by the pay-roll tax obligation paid by hardworking American residents. 6.2% is secured of their salaries as well as a matching 6.2% matching payments of companies over all made up the social safety and security payments. Payments quit after the initial 90k of earnings is gotten to per participant.
The optimal Social Security situation is in which the payments are a lot greater than the quantity of advantages to be offered. As well as any type of excess fund after paying all advantages is positioned right into a Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is after that spent in Treasury Bonds because the regulation needs it.
The United States Government might make use of the cash however needs to spend for it later on. Throughout the year 2003 the management headed by Pres. Bush has actually gathered a shortage of $536 billion in which the $156 billion excess of Social Security was utilized. The issue currently is that the management is drawing away all concerns far from the fund they obtained and also is entirely overlooking the entire problem by informing the American individuals that privatization is the only point that can conserve Social Security out of its economic dilemma.
They are likewise stating that if not privatize, the Social Security will certainly have to reduce on some of the future advantages. As well as what takes place currently is that the federal government takes on the fund, invest it as well as after that fail to remember all concerning it which is not excellent given that it impacts the advantages to be gotten by social safety participants.
There should certainly appertain allowances of funds indicating that the fund for Social Security Benefits must not be utilized for battle and also tax obligation cuts. And also if ever before, it is made use of after that the management needs to be liable sufficient in returning the cash they have actually obtained. Its not theirs to begin with, it’s for the American individuals that have actually striven in order to save money on for their future.

The Social Security is moneyed by the pay-roll tax obligation paid by hardworking American people. The issue currently is that the management is drawing away all concerns away from the fund they obtained and also is totally ignoring the entire concern by informing the American individuals that privatization is the only point that can conserve Social Security out of its economic dilemma.
And also what takes place currently is that the federal government takes on the fund, invest it and also after that neglect all regarding it which is not excellent given that it impacts the advantages to be gotten by social protection participants.
There ought to be appropriate allotments of funds suggesting that the fund for Social Security Benefits ought to not be utilized for battle as well as tax obligation cuts.

The post Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security? appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security?

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security? The Social Security is moneyed by the pay-roll tax obligation paid by hardworking American residents. 6.2% is secured of their salaries as well as a matching 6.2% matching payments of companies over all made up the social safety and security payments. Payments quit after the initial 90k …

The post Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security? appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security?

Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security?

The Social Security is moneyed by the pay-roll tax obligation paid by hardworking American residents. 6.2% is secured of their salaries as well as a matching 6.2% matching payments of companies over all made up the social safety and security payments. Payments quit after the initial 90k of earnings is gotten to per participant.
The optimal Social Security situation is in which the payments are a lot greater than the quantity of advantages to be offered. As well as any type of excess fund after paying all advantages is positioned right into a Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is after that spent in Treasury Bonds because the regulation needs it.
The United States Government might make use of the cash however needs to spend for it later on. Throughout the year 2003 the management headed by Pres. Bush has actually gathered a shortage of $536 billion in which the $156 billion excess of Social Security was utilized. The issue currently is that the management is drawing away all concerns far from the fund they obtained and also is entirely overlooking the entire problem by informing the American individuals that privatization is the only point that can conserve Social Security out of its economic dilemma.
They are likewise stating that if not privatize, the Social Security will certainly have to reduce on some of the future advantages. As well as what takes place currently is that the federal government takes on the fund, invest it as well as after that fail to remember all concerning it which is not excellent given that it impacts the advantages to be gotten by social safety participants.
There should certainly appertain allowances of funds indicating that the fund for Social Security Benefits must not be utilized for battle and also tax obligation cuts. And also if ever before, it is made use of after that the management needs to be liable sufficient in returning the cash they have actually obtained. Its not theirs to begin with, it’s for the American individuals that have actually striven in order to save money on for their future.

The Social Security is moneyed by the pay-roll tax obligation paid by hardworking American people. The issue currently is that the management is drawing away all concerns away from the fund they obtained and also is totally ignoring the entire concern by informing the American individuals that privatization is the only point that can conserve Social Security out of its economic dilemma.
And also what takes place currently is that the federal government takes on the fund, invest it and also after that neglect all regarding it which is not excellent given that it impacts the advantages to be gotten by social protection participants.
There ought to be appropriate allotments of funds suggesting that the fund for Social Security Benefits ought to not be utilized for battle as well as tax obligation cuts.

The post Just how Well Do We Understand Social Security? appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.