I didn’t know what to else to do to express my anger so now I’m writing. When I think about what I’m upset about, then it kind of sounds silly. On the surface level, my Instagram account was deactivated for impersonating another person.
Instagram disabled my account.
The irony of this all is that there are 2 accounts impersonating me. I found this out around the end of January 2021. I had a few friends send me DMs asking me if I started a new page. Everyone I know that reached out to me reported the page.
But somehow, my account gets disabled and the 2 accounts that are actually impersonating me are still up. When your account first gets disabled by Instagram, they make you wait a few days to request a review of the decision.
There’s no way to contact Instagram directly.
The process of getting your account back requires you to submit a copy of your ID. However, for 3 weeks straight I’ve received an error message every time I try to upload it.
Instagram’s support is nonexistent and there’s no way to contact them. Most companies will respond on Twitter if you mentioned them even without adding the @ sign. But not Instagram.
This story gets better though. I created a personal Instagram account back in December 2020 just to give myself a break from the business side of IG.
I wanted a personal Instagram account where I could let my hair down and just be myself without thinking about if every image in my feed was coordinated. Since I had this new account I was ok because at least I could still access IG.
However, today which is Friday, February 5, 2021, I decided to report the account that impersonated my business account. Moments later, I found out that the new personal account had been disabled by Instagram too. And at this point, excuse my language, I said fuck it.
This is why you need your own website.
Thank you for reading my rant but here’s the part that can help you. I know a lot of businesses and creators that depend on Instagram to help them make money to live.
You do not own Instagram, so at any point, they can suspend your account without even having the decency to have an open support channel.
I remember I used to hear about other people’s accounts being taken away but I honestly thought it couldn’t happen to me because I was following all the rules.
How I’m bouncing back with no IG.
Well, it did happen to me, but it didn’t hurt me. At the time my account was suspended I had just gotten up to 2k followers. I track my social growth week after week in Airtable.
I was starting to get consistent leads from Instagram but my saving grace is that I have backup plans for rainy days like this.
If Instagram is the only social media platform you use to generate leads and sales for your business then this is your wake-up call.
If you don’t have a website then you need to invest in one now.
If you don’t have an email list then start one now.
You need your own place on the internet that you control what happens and what rules are made. You also need a communication channel to your audience that you own which is your email list or text list.
How You Should Use Social Media
At the end of the day, social media is a tool. Its primary purpose is to refer traffic to your website so that you can capture leads and get sales. If you couldn’t slide in any more DMs would you still be able to make money? If your answer was no then it’s time to refocus your efforts.
Final Thoughts
Own your shit. No one can take away your email list, text list, or even website from you. Diversify your social media activity across different platforms. That way if something happens you still have an online presence.
And for me, I’ll definitely be ok without Instagram. Pinterest and Twitter are the top social traffic sources for my site (thanks Google Analytics). I still have my Facebook Business page account that will allow me to run ads on Facebook and Instagram. And best of all, my email list is still growing. Hopefully, you don’t have to go through this but if you do then you’ve been warned.
