Dating App Shadowbans: Hinge, Bumble, Tinder; Length, Fixes

How To Know, Shadowban Reasons, Shadowbanned Signs, Tests (Hinge, Bumble)

If you look around online enough, there will be endless posts about frustration on dating apps. Reasons for it will vary based on who you ask, but most guys tend to blame women, apps, monetization efforts, abundance of choice or something along those lines. 

Bad behavior on dating apps or offline behavior can get you outright banned from the apps themselves. Such behaviors include harassment, stalking, sexual assault, creating multiple accounts and lying. These actions can lead to permanent bans if reported (with evidence) and the users are made aware because of some sort of notification.

More recently, guys have been clinging to another reason: shadow-bans. 

What Are Shadowbans? Shadowbans On Dating Apps, Do Shadowbans Exist?

Shadow-bans are actions taken by apps to limit activity and visibility of users who are problematic for them and their users. Shadowbans are different from regular bans as users can still access the apps and seemingly use most functions without any indication something is off. 

Typically, actions are hidden to other users in the form of likes, messages etc. A user may assume that they are shadowbanned if they receive fewer likes, matches or messages on dating apps all of a sudden.

How To Know If You Are Shadow Banned Tinder, Hinge, Bumble Shadowban Test

One possible way is that you are unable to pay for boosts or premium services. Sometimes apps will block accounts from upgrading services but just because you can’t upgrade your account, doesn’t mean you are not shadowbanned. Each app behaves differently in the way they handle shadow bans.

The other way to figure out if you are shadowbanned is to send a like to someone you know and see if that like can be seen by said person.

Reasons For Shadowbans: Restarting; Why Am I Shadowbanned?

Rather than deleting and creating a new profile, some users of Hinge and other apps are convinced that deleting and restarting your profile will give you a slight bump in matches. This creates a negative experience for others as they are forced to see your unwanted profile again and again and as a result, will either left swipe your profile more quickly or report you to the app.

These actions, over time, can reduce your visibility on apps and in some extreme cases limit your ability to reach others on the app. One should never use a volume approach to dating apps when it comes to swiping. Swiping too much can give off the impression that you are a bot or not that interested in connecting with others (again, if a person keeps getting likes from you, they are more likely to report you or at least swipe left).

Bumble states there is no such thing as a shadow ban but doesn’t rule out that swiping too much and getting in front of users repeatedly can cause more people to swipe left on your more often resulting in a lower perceived attractiveness on your profile.

Read more here: https://bumble.com/en/help/am-i-penalized-for-deleting-profile

It’s guys like Alex Hammerli that is forcing Tinder to clamp down on Tinder account-reset hacks.

How To Get Around A Hinge Shadowban, Shadowban Bypass; Tinder Shadowban Fixes

Whether its a bug or intentional approach by Hinge to be ambiguous and frustrate users to the point that they look to upgrade memberships, people tend to blame the app rather than see if there is a solution with customer service or the more obvious reason – work on their own profiles, photos, bios and communication skills. The best way to address shadow bans is to not try to game the system in the first place.

Rather than send volume likes to women, be more selective. Try to maintain better self-awareness and realistic expectations. Work on yourself (photos, writing skills, hygiene, bios, prompts, lifestyle choices, messages etc). 

If you think you have been banned by accident, contact the app directly with evidence.

Are Bumble Bans Permanent? How Long Do Shadowbans Last On Tinder

For the most part, yes, there might be some exceptions for mistaken reports. Revenge reporting is real and something that apps are dealing with now more than ever. With that said, bans on accounts are largely permanent but that doesn’t mean people can create new accounts.

If you are shadowbanned on one app, it can carry over to others possibly especially if they are owned by the same parent company.

Other Reasons For No Success Other Than Shadowbans

Over time, your profile is shown less and less unless you become more attractive over time (for most people, this is not the case).

The less self-aware you are, the more boring or the more you ignore other people’s preferences, the more likely you are to waste likes on other people. This is important because the more likes you send to people not interested, the more left swipes you will receive, rendering you less attractive.

Shadowbans vs Bans On Dating Apps

A dating app may get tired of banning people outright so shadowbans make it easy to manage them (let them assume nothing is wrong rather than banning them which can lead to new accounts being made).