Hidden Twitter Followers

Hidden Twitter followers are accounts that follow you but don't appear in your followers list. It's not possible to see hidden followers regardless of the reason they are hidden.

Why are some followers hidden on Twitter?

There are many reasons why some followers may be hidden:

1. Spam Accounts: Twitter might automatically hide followers perceived as spam based on quality settings.

2. Locked Accounts: Followers with locked profiles are temporarily removed from your visible follower list until their account status is restored.
3. Suspended Accounts: Accounts that violate Twitter's guidelines may be suspended, resulting in their permanent removal from your follower list.
4. Deactivated Accounts: Users who deactivate their accounts temporarily disappear from your follower list unless they reactivate their profiles.
5. Protected Accounts: Followers with private settings remain hidden from your list until you're approved to follow them.
6. Technical Glitches: Occasionally, technical issues might result in followers being temporarily invisible on your list.
7. Shadowbanning: Although not confirmed, there's speculation that shadowbanning might cause certain followers to be hidden.
8. Blocking: If you block a user on Twitter, they cannot view or access your followers list.
9. Truncated Lists: To deter web scraping, Twitter displays only the most recent followers, which can cause older followers to be hidden from immediate view.

Everyone will have some hidden followers on twitter due to the last reason above, especially if they have more than 30 followers.

Protected accounts

Private or protected Twitter accounts inherently conceal their list of followers and those they are following. When an account is set to private, its tweets and follower lists are hidden from public view. Only individuals approved by the account owner can access this information.

Shortened follower lists

Shortened follower lists on Twitter represent a recent shift in how the platform displays followers. Historically, users could scroll through an exhaustive list of an account's followers, but with the introduction of truncated lists, only a limited number of the most recent followers are visible.

This change, which currently displays roughly 30 followers at the time of writing, is believed to be a deterrent against web scraping and unauthorized data extraction. Furthermore, when Twitter began truncating these lists, access to comprehensive follower details through their APIs was also limited, impacting many third-party applications.

The truncation primarily affects those viewing another person's followers, with recent followers listed at the top, and can change user dynamics and the way followers are perceived.

Non-Followers (Lurkers)

Don't confuse hidden followers with "lurkers" - those who view your timeline without following you. Identifying lurkers isn't possible due to privacy concerns. Some tools falsely claim to offer this service, but they're likely scams. Some users utilize Twitter lists to monitor others without actually following them.

Notifications

You might receive a notification of a new follower who doesn't appear in your list. They might have unfollowed you or be hidden for other reasons. If you're missing these notifications, enable them in your settings.

0 Followers Issue

Sometimes, a glitch causes all followers to be hidden, displaying a zero count. This usually occurs when an account is locked and is typically resolved upon unlocking. However, there might be a brief delay, and on rare occasions, followers might not be restored.

Lastly, it's worth noting that Twitter's functionalities and policies are always changing. What was standard in the past might not be the case moving forward.