3 weeks ago my Instagram was hacked.
I never lost full access, but I did loose certain capabilities.
STORY TIME:
It was a Sunday and we were driving home from our friends trip in NC. Naturally, I was scrolling Instagram and engaging with content. I quickly noticed every time I tried to like a photo I got an error that read "Try Again Later We restrict certain activity to protect our community. Tell us if you think we made a mistake." At first I just thought maybe Instagram was having a glitch. However, it kept happening. I closed the app and reopened... still happening. I updated the app... still happening. I logged out and logged back in... still happening. I finally decided to give it time and tried again later that night. When I was still getting that error I started googling. Everything I found said there were a few things that could be getting me this error. 1. I liked too many photos. I knew this couldn't have been the case because I was barely on my phone that weekend. 2. I commented the same comment multiple times. Again I wasn't on my phone much and I wouldn't do that. 3. I followed and unfollowed too many accounts in a short time. I don't play the follow/unfollow game so I knew that wasn't it. 4. You have a 3rd party app that makes likes/comments/follows on your behalf. I believe in growing my Instagram following organically so I have never had one of those apps.
As I kept googling how to fix this people said just give it a few days/week for it to work itself out. I also noticed during this time there was a login near Nashville the day before. I have never been to Nashville in my entire life. (That's why I think I was hacked. And because I know I didn't do any of the above things.)
I decided to go to bed and vowed to try my hardest to stay off Instagram the next day. (Some of the things I found said you could get access back quicker if you stayed off the app and didn't like, comment or post anything.)
I'm not going to lie Monday was really hard staying off the app. Tuesday same thing. Wednesday I decided to see if I had my access back. I didn't. Mind you I could post, but I couldn't comment or like things and the Instagram algorithm does not like when you don't engage. By Friday I still didn't have access back and had tried reaching out to Instagram via the help section on the app to no avail.
Here's where things get really "bad" for me.
Friday I had a sponsored post that was due. I wasn't really freaking out because I could still post to my grid and stories. I shoot my content and post my grid photo only to realize that a caption is a comment and Instagram deleted it. I also couldn't tag my business partner or use the # I needed in stories. At this point I have a full on breakdown! This is now going to not only loose me money, but I have to reach out to the brand and potentially look really bad to them as well. After bawling/hyperventilating for 30 minutes I try reaching out to the help email for Instagram/Facebook that everyone says no one will reply to. Shocking... I got an automated response telling me the email is no longer valid and to reach out in the help section of the app. (Been there done that.)
Not sure if that worked or enough time had passed, but 2 hours later I was able to post my branded content to my grid & my stories with all tags, captions, etc.
I'm sure you're wondering why I told you this extremely long story? Well, it's to tell you (and myself) that as a creator you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. At least not one you don't own.
What if I didn't get my access back? Sure, I could make a new Instagram, but growth can be really hard and slow. This is why as a blogger your blog should be your top priority.
Dana from It's Casual Blog talked about it in this post after Instagrams blackout last year. I remember thinking "WOW! She is so right"! I didn't really take action though.
I'm not going to lie, I don't always put my full focus on my blog. I can say after that scare I do plan to make my blog my NUMBER ONE! It's not going to happen over night, but I do have some thoughts on how I'm going to do this.
What if these apps just went away? What would you have left? This isn't just about Instagram. Tik Tok is another PRIME example with everything that's going on right now. What are these Tik Tok stars going to do when/if the app is truly banned in the US?
This is why you need something you "own" or at least a platform you can actually get help from if something happens.
I can't speak from all perspectives, but as a blogger this is why your number one priority should be your blog.
If you're a creator where do you put most of your focus? I would love to hear your feedback/opinions in the comments!
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