A practice that essentially blocks or hides a user's social media content in such a way that they are unaware that it's happening. When a user sees their posts as normal, but the content doesn’t reach the wider public.

Ohio State University, Columbus

Social media algorithms analyze user behavior and prioritize content the platform believes the user wants to see and is most likely to engage with.

Social Media Algorithm

Brown, A. (2021, November 3). Understanding the technical and societal relationship between Shadowbanning and algorithmic bias. Forbes. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/anniebrown/2021/10/27/understanding-the-technical-and-societal-relationship-between-shadowbanning-and-algorithmic-bias/?sh=7f56f2c76296 

Understanding the technical and societal relationship between Shadowbanning and algorithmic bias

Dazed. (2021, June 8). Instagram finally sheds light on 'shadow-banning' and its algorithm. Dazed. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/53128/1/instagram-finally-sheds-light-on-shadow-banning-and-its-algorithm-adam-mosseri 

Instagram finally sheds light on 'shadow-banning' and its algorithm

Shadowbanning 

While an algorithm is used to prioritize a user's interests, the continuation of the algorithm sorting out likes and dislikes can lead to feeding biases. With social media already filtering out content on marginalized populations, an algorithm can be further triggered to push this content out of the user's feed. This makes the voices of those who are ostracized in society even more invisible on social media.

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