Lessons Learned & Opportunities Taken
One evening, after getting our youngest to sleep , my wife and I were sitting on the couch when she turns to me and asks “Did you get my message?”. I admittedly responded (as many absent-minded husbands like me often do), “Huh? What message?” while at the same time I quickly glanced to my phone… checking texts, WhatsApp and Messenger to no avail…it was at that moment I realized she had probably sent a recipe via Instagram (in our house I tend to be the cook…while she tends to enjoy sending wish list recipes).
“Oh…you sent it on insta?” I replied as I swiped to the app, tapping on it to fire it up.
My next words were an adult version of our six-year-old son’s current favorite catch phrase…
“WHAT THE…???”
There, in clear succinct script was the message:
“Your account has been disabled for violation of community guidelines”.
Violation?? What? “This has to be a mistake” I thought. Admittedly I hadn’t looked at my account for several weeks, but how can this be? Now, to give you context, mine was not an account filled with constant reposts, vacation pics, memes or mindless “influencer style selfies etc. Rather it was a carefully curated space, housing my photographs from the last 5 years…nothing risqué…nothing offensive.
I immediately tapped the “help” button which led me to instructions on how to verify my account and have it reinstated. Doing my due diligence, I followed these instructions carefully, step by step.
“Phew”! …Problem solved…Disaster averted…
One day passed…still disabled…
Two days passed…still disabled…
On the third day I was greeted with the following:
“Your account has been reviewed and has been permanently deleted. This decision may not be appealed”.
What?? Deleted? Gone? But I followed the steps to verify? No appeal?
Nope…Nada…no appeal and no way to contact anyone…5 years of photographs and networking gone.
Over the next few weeks, I found myself progressing steadily through the 5 stages of loss:
- Anger (*!**!##)
- Denial (No….not possible…it can’t really be gone)
- Bargaining (Wait…I am sure someone can get it back…I wonder what it will cost?)
- Depression (Gone…Gone…Gone…)
- Acceptance (Yep…gone…)
There was nothing I could do…it was gone, and it was time to move forward. I had to accept that and accept I would never know why (perhaps Meta didn’t like that it was accessed from variable IP addresses due to my traveling…perhaps they didn’t like that it was accessed from West Africa, where I currently live and work??), regardless, the silver lining is, it created the impetus to do something I had been meaning to do for some time, create an online portfolio / space to share my work, my thoughts, and a bit about me. A space that I would have more control over…one in which I could determine the ways my work is presented, shared, and engaged with.
This experience also drove home the reality (and this is the cautionary part…so pay attention) of the sheer amount of control and power big tech and social media holds over us, our lives and our emotions. Yes, yes, I know we hear that over and over, but do we ever REALLY listen to it? I was once one of those who didn’t pay it much mind. It was something that might affect others…but not me. I believed I used the platform as a means of sharing my work and connecting / networking with others who had similar interests and was thus safe. I would feel excited each time I would get “likes” or new “followers”. I would check the hashtags to see if any of my photos were “trending”. Each time I posted I would consider which hashtags to use, which might be the most effective, and which might get the most response. I enjoyed that dose of dopamine social media is so good at addicting us to. And when that was gone I felt myself going through withdrawal. It was an addiction, one to which I was suddenly and unexpectedly going “cold turkey”. Given the amount of mindless, shallow, and inappropriate material that fills many of the “feeds” and “streams” out there I never thought mine would be one to be deleted, that is until now.
As creatives, we want to share our work and our passions. We want others to engage with them and partake in dialogue. At the same time though, we must be cautious about the platforms we choose to do that through. Be mindful and vigilant of how much control you are relinquishing. What are you willing to give up, what risks are you willing to take and how much are you willing to be at the whim and manipulation of social media/ big tech corporations, their algorithms, and their unflinching pursuit of profit? I get it, I really do. I understand that a social media presence can be crucial to getting your work and name out there in today’s day and age. But at the same time, is the form of viewer engagement it offers really what you are seeking as a creative? Is your work only worth a person scrolling past it and maybe…just maybe…viewing it for a few seconds? Are you comfortable with some mysterious algorithm determining your work’s popularity and dare I say “value”? Perhaps you are. As for me…not so much anymore…
Oh, and one other thing… please…please… please…remember to backup…
-Scott
