Bought into the hype about TikTok's shadowban theory for months

I was totally convinced TikTok was shadowbanning my car detailing videos because they'd get like 200 views max. Kept seeing posts in here about it and thought my content was getting buried for no reason. Turns out my thumbnails were just garbage and my hook wasn't grabbing anyone in the first 3 seconds. Actually ran 3 test videos with better hooks and proper tags last month and one hit 12k views overnight. Felt dumb but also relieved it wasn't some algorithm conspiracy against me. Anyone else realize they were blaming the algorithm when it was really just weak content?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly7092d ago

The algorithm shaming is real but its usually just us not wanting to admit our content needs work. I spent three months convinced my art videos were getting "suppressed" before I realized my lighting was terrible and people couldnt even see the details. The moment I filmed in natural light and cut the boring intro stuff, views went up like crazy. Its funny how we'd rather believe in a shadowban conspiracy than just admit our thumbnails look like someone took a screenshot at 2am. That 12k overnight hit must have been a nice reality check though. Keep doing what works and ignore the noise.

fiona_carr262d ago

Idk, I see what you're saying but I think there's room for both. Sometimes the algorithm really does mess up, especially when they roll out new updates or tweak what counts as "quality content." I've had videos that were basically the same quality get wildly different results, and not in a way that lines up with the content changing. Your point about fixing things that are actually under your control is totally valid though, that's smart. Maybe it's just me but I don't think it has to be one or the other, you know? You can work on your lighting and still be annoyed when the algorithm randomly buries a video that's clearly better than some of your others.

wright.leo2d ago

Holly you're really saying the algorithm shaming is real but its usually just us not wanting to admit our content needs work. I've seen so many creators blame the algorithm when their video was literally just not good enough. You say you filmed in natural light and cut the boring intro stuff and views went up. That's exactly it. People love to point fingers at the algorithm instead of looking at their own videos.