[[Hiatus post: Current subscribers will get a free 3 month o..
🕑 Added 2022-12-21 19:49:18 +0000 UTC
[[Hiatus post: Current subscribers will get a free 3 month of subscription on the 1st, to make up for December/lack of activity. See you next year! ]]
My Instagram account was deleted with no warnings or violations. Instagram stated the deletion was for violating community guidelines but no further information or context was provided. We appealed it twice and were ignored.
I am heartbroken, this is an unexpected loss of income (around $100/month via reels!) and audience reach of tens of thousands of people, let alone the years of work carefully built into it. Social media might not be that deep to some, but this was really important to me.
The only major incident was around this time last year when I had a post removed for the first time for supposed solicitation (a dirty sole display video, fully clothed), which I appealed. After a human moderator looked at it, Instagram put it back up, stating it was an error on their end and no violations were found. They returned my account status back to good standing, notating zero community guideline violations, which remained until the deletion, as far as I know.
The most likely possibility I can see would be that Patreon linked in my bio mentioned nudity (potential solicitation under "offering nude content"?, or the fact the site was set to 18+), but I've never recieved a warning about it and had been in the clear for years. Who knows, honestly.
The rules are very arbitrary. I've seen totally tame, fully dressed, just for fun accounts removed (including a personal friend at 16k!), then content that's basically true hardcore pornography reported but left up. I'd say "it isn't fair", but neither is life. It's already incredibly difficult being a grey area artist, but especially as someone with OCD in planning and formulas...so I will say I'm frustrated. I like clear lines in the sand when it comes to rules. I deleted a whole secondary rant about this, with case studies of friends and their own recently lost accounts. As bad as it might sound, it's comforting to know that it isn't just me, which makes it feel less personal.
It just sucks, because I was working on coming off of hiatus, and the account seemed to be blossoming well...up until its sudden death. My hiatus already caused a lot of decline in activity and income on my paid sites too (can't blame anybody but myself, other things have just been priority so I haven't been doing much with my content), so I was hoping that was the needed boost to "get back in the game". Oh well. You know what they say...sometimes, it be like that.
Anyway...all that coupled with trying to balance work/personal life (its always something, innit?) , I got a terrible flu that knocked me on my ass for a whole week. I'm no longer contagious but I'm definitely not myself yet. I'm just thankful I had the sick time off at work. My coworkers welcomed me back with a holiday decorated desk, some gifts, and lots of concern. That felt nice, and helped me feel a little more festive than this time last week.
I guess there's nothing to do at this point besides work on my website as a true "home base" portfolio and try to rebuild and grow on social media as it goes. Back on the horse. I know the correct answer is not worry too much about social media accounts, knowing the rug could be pulled on them at any time, but it's difficult for me as a recovering perfectionist trying to find balance.
It's crazy to think about the thousands, and I mean THOUSANDS of photos that people just haven't seen. They may as well not exist unless I actually push harder to do something with them. I also need to work on my problem area of not asking for help where it's needed. Community is so important, and I've been made even more aware of that lately. Thanks always for staying tuned and your support in all forms.
