Instagram Disabled My Account

Hello my KMD lovelies!

So I mentioned in my last post how lots has happened in the past couple of weeks and I took a break from the blog.  Well, I’ll now be discussing my break!  This will be a different blog post then my normal fashion advice or blogging tips. However, it’s a juicy post with lots of details so, hang in there with me.

A lot of you have been wondering what had happened to my Instagram account. Thus, I decided to put together this post to clear the confusion.

Instagram Disabled me

As some of you know, my disappearance was mainly linked to my Instagram disabling my account.  To clear the confusion for most people, a disabled account is different than a deactivated, deleted or hacked account, per Instagram’s policies.  I know it may sound confusing, but they are all three different things.

What does Disabled mean?

According to Instagram’s website, they will disable you if you don’t follow their Community Guidelines or Terms of Use.  Now I know that I follow all their guidelines and terms. So, this news was a bit of a shock to me and I know it is to most of you as well. I’ve been doing my research and learned that the “Disabled” team is basically just bots scanning the Instagram interface looking for anyone who violates their terms. It can also be something like if I responded back to a rude comment, in a rude manner as well, and Instagram thought my comment was bullying so they disabled me. Even though I was standing up for myself, they can disable me. Because the biggest issue with bots is that they can’t interpret the back and forth communicative language.

Why did Instagram Disabled me?

I have been getting this question a lot and to be honest, I don’t know why.  I know just as much as you do, which is nothing, and that’s quite unfortunate.  Instagram does not tell you why they disable you.  They just give you a notice when you sign in (see image below) and then you have to try to appeal the decision.  They don’t give you a warning or a strike if they’re about to disable you, they just do it. 

What I did to try to get my Instagram account back

Most of you have been really amazing in offering me advice in how I can try to get my account back.  Truth is, that I’ve tried all the options that you’re telling me and many more, see below:

• Initially, I thought my account was hacked so my blogger friend (Jamie of Style by Jamie Lea) connected me to Monica of Monica’s Mix who had a similar situation.  Monica linked me to Juan who helps with hacked accounts.  Juan told me that my account wasn’t hacked but rather disabled so we just have to wait it out.

• I have contacted the Instagram support team via e-mail and I got an automated email back saying that they don’t use that email address anymore but instead to go through their website. 

• I’ve sent multiple appeals a day on the Instagram website.  I would receive an email from Instagram asking for picture of a handwritten code, my full name and Instagram account name.  After this, I won’t hear back anything.

• I found the Instagram/Facebook costumer service number.  When I called it, I got an automated message saying to go the Instagram Help Center online and that there were no live agents for help.  Instead, I could leave a voicemail but there was no guarantee for a call back.

• I have had friends who know people that work at Instagram or Facebook Corporate and they asked them to see if they could help.  Unfortunately, since the disabled account “department” is all run by bots, there is nothing an employee can do.  All those people told me that I just had to wait.  However, it can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 months to 3 years

• I also ran an ad on my Facebook Page to see if I could chat with a Live Facebook Agent.  However, after running my ad, the chat option did not pop up.  I have a close friend who works with Facebook Corporate and she told me that because of the pandemic, their live support team is no longer available.

• I tried to be socially annoying and tweet to the Instagram and Facebook teams about my disabled account.  I even sent a Direct Message to the Facebook Twitter Team (Instagram Twitter Team has disabled their direct messages) and got no response.

Decision to Move Forward

After my many attempts to retrieve my account back over the course of two weeks, I had not heard a single peep back from Instagram or Facebook.  I know that two weeks is not a long time and I should wait longer but two weeks is like eternity in the blogging world.  I have a lot of fun content and collaborations to present to you guys and I don’t want to keep on postponing it.  So, that’s when I decided to make a back-up account.  I was even told by many others in a similar situation to make a back-up account since there is no time estimate of how long it will take to get my account enabled. 

It’s not an easy decision to make to start from scratch.  I did not want to make a second account and actually did consider to not make a second account/come back to Instagram.  However, the sad truth is that most brands do most of their social media campaigns/outreach on Instagram versus the other platforms.  In addition, Instagram is one of the top platforms to deliver amazing content.

I had to move on from my anger at Instagram because I wanted to continue to deliver amazing content as well as take my brand back into my own hands.  After all, I built my old account (the disabled one) from 0 followers to an authentic almost 3K following.  I did not buy any followers, nor did I use a personal account, with a base following, and switch to a blogger account.  All my following on Instagram was pure hard work and that’s what hurts the most. 

Coming back to the ‘gram was actually a good feeling.  The community that I was involved in took measures to try to help me rebuild my new account and I am forever grateful for them.  They say blogger friendships are fake but to be honest, the blogger friends that I made helped me get through this tough situation.

Bonus:  Blogger Tip

Everything that has happened to me regarding my disabled Instagram account really opened my eyes to appreciating the fact that I have this blog and own the domain.  For my blogger friends who soley rely on the Instagram platform to blog, please make a website.  You don’t own your Instagram account, the Facebook team owns it, and it can be taken away at any given moment without an explanation (like mine was).  Take your brand in our own hands and make a platform that you own, that’s the most important blogging advice that I can give.

I know this was a super lengthily post but I wanted to cover all ground and answer all the questions that I have been getting.  Have you ever experienced a situation where something was taken away from you without an explanation?  Let me know in the comments below.

UPDATE

As of Oct. 20, 2020, my Instagram account got reactivated my the Instagram Team! I don’t know how or why or what but I’m so glad it’s back. It took three weeks but I’m so glad it’s back! Long story short, I got an email from Instagram saying my account was reactivated and it was an error on their part. THAT’S IT. I didn’t get an answer to why my account was accidentally disabled or anything (see below).

Moral of the story here, make sure you don’t just focus on one social media platform as an influencer, content creator, etc. For the new followers that are following my new Instagram account, head over to my original Instagram account to see how my whole blogging journey began & more.

Note: Feature image was taken by Photography by Ali Danielle