Deleted my 200-follower account and the algorithm treated me like a brand new person

Started fresh on Tuesday with zero history, posted the same kind of content I always did, and got 3 times the reach in a day, so has anyone else noticed that a clean slate seems to reset whatever invisible penalty an old account builds up?

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shane_bell8d ago

The 3x jump in reach tracks with something I noticed when I made a backup account last month. My main account had maybe 400 followers but engagement had flatlined for weeks, same content, same time of day, nothing. Fired up the backup with zero followers, posted the same kind of clip, and it hit the explore page within two hours. I think the old account gets tagged as low value after a while, like the algorithm figures out your ceiling and just stops pushing your stuff out. The scary part is that penalty seems to stick even when you're posting better stuff, so it's not about quality at all, it's about history. That's why these new accounts feel like a cheat code, the system has no data on you yet so it just throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. Makes me wonder how many small creators are just stuck in that invisible box and don't even realize a reset would help them.