Hi everyone! Just a quick update post to let you all know what I’m up to!
Today my daughter gets to dump her crutches FINALLY! She’s been on crutches for almost 8 weeks now. She still has to use a walking boot however to support her foot, but the best part is that her hands are free! Lol, you don’t realize how burdensome it is to not have hands available to help you while you walk. So today is a good day and we’re super-excited about this. My daughter can fetch her own drinks and snacks again!
So far, except for all the surgery-related pain at first, her foot has been pain-free lately. I’m curious to see if that will keep up once she truly starts walking on her foot again without the support. But for now, it’s really encouraging.
Also, we’re planning her 11 year birthday party too! She wants a glow-in-the-dark dance party, so, that’s what we’re preparing for. The timing couldn’t be better for this. She already missed one school dance a few weeks ago because of her crutches so this party will kinda make-up for that one she missed. I’m happy she gets to play with her friends again, as she hasn’t been able to for a couple months.
And this week is Spring Break week so my daughter and I will be flying to stay at my parents’ house. My parents are pretty awesome and it’s perfect that she’s done with crutches in time for this.
That’s all the news I happen to have for you all. I hope you’ve been doing great and I hope some warmer weather is in store for us all! 🙂
So I’m still very disgruntled that I’ve been ghosted by Instagram.
It’s been 3 weeks now since they’ve deactivated my account without warning. And they won’t respond to any of my attempts to reach them. At this point, I’ve sent them dozens each of emails, forms, and selfie-confirmations, and it doesn’t matter.
What makes me even MORE disgruntled about this whole entire experience, is when I see who actually DOES have an active, lively, and bustling Instagram account.
For example, obvious scammers are all over the place! Like, they don’t even TRY to hide it. C’mon, everyone’s literally “winning” free iPhones multiple times everyday and this is obviously a scam but Instagram isn’t stopping them.
But Instagram stopped ME. And I wasn’t scamming anyone!
Ghosted by Instagram / Image Source: Pepper V.
Another thing that bugs me about Instagram is that they literally have hackers all over the place. Announce on any social media that your Instagram was deactivated without warning and every single hacker out there will reach out to you and try to use your moment of despair and desperation to reveal to them your username/password combos.
You can search for them quite easily on Instagram too. Just search for “hackers” or even #hackers and you have millions to choose from. They advertise themselves quite well. And Instagram isn’t stopping them either.
But Instagram stopped ME.
And another thing! So I manage my daughter’s Instagram account just so I can post her cute pictures and life updates, etc. And 10% of my daughter’s new followers on a DAILY BASIS are older men with 0 photos and THOUSANDS of other children they are following. Of course I block them and report them and don’t allow any interaction with my daughter. But they truly are following thousands of other children. That is not an exaggeration.
So my big public service announcement for all parents out there – make sure to manage or at lease monitor EVERYDAY your children’s Instagram account. This is incredibly important. Because Instagram isn’t stopping older men from interacting with your children.
Ever notice your Instagram account disappear without warning, and you were suddenly no longer allowed to log-in anymore? And you have no idea what happened? This is the post for you then, where you’ll find 8 surprising reasons your Instagram was deactivated.
I’m in this exact situation now where – 2 weeks ago – my Instagram Account was deactivated for “no” reason. At least, it’s not an obvious reason because I’ve reviewed their Community Guidelines and I did not violate any of those. And nobody from Instagram will respond with any reason, so I stand by my claim that there was “NO” reason for my account to be deactivated. I’m still upset about this. But mostly by the fact that they did this to me without warning and are ghosting all my communication attempts.
Because Instagram is ghosting me, I’ve been forced to do my own research. And I’m quite upset at the amount of time I’ve invested researching this on my own because Instagram won’t help me. So Google has been my best friend the last several days. Below are 8 of the most surprising reasons your Instagram was deactivated.
#1 Not Using Your Real Identity
This was my primary worry. We all know that I use an alias online due to issues I’ve had in my past with an online stalker. So my immediate rationale for why my Instagram account was deactivated was because I wasn’t using my real identity. BUT, this is not true for Instagram. I reviewed the Instagram terms and found that alias accounts are fine, as long as nobody is being impersonated or harrassed by it.
But this IS a violation on Facebook, FYI. So if you are like me and using an online alias, make sure to check your Facebook and make alternate plans. I’m planning to use a variation of my real name for Facebook and transfer my alias Page to it, just to make sure I’m protected from this happening to my Facebook account. So please take the same precautions.
So if you are currently following me on Facebook and you notice my Profile Name change, then this is the reason why. I’ll keep the same Profile pic however, so that I leave behind a clue that it is still me.
#2 Not Turning-On Two-Factor Authentication
Did you all know about this?! It’s optional to turn-on two-factor authentication on Instagram. However, if you do not turn it on, then you are vulnerable to hackers and being hacked IS an easy way to trigger a deactivation, making this one of the most common reasons your Instagram was deactivated.
So please double-check right now that your two-factor authentication is turned-on.
#3 Being Spam-ish
Of all the possible reasons your Instagram was deactivated, then this is the trap that I most likely fell into without realizing it. Apparently, it’s considered spam to exceed some behavioral limits on Instagram. And by behavioral limits, I mean actions such as following people, unfollowing people, liking posts, leaving comments, etc. But Instagram doesn’t actually notify you if you are approaching these limits, so you don’t have the opportunity to correct yourself. Some of the limits that I was able to find posted online are:
a maximum number of likes per hour: 60
a maximum number of comments per hour: 60
a maximum number of follows per hour: 60
a maximum number of messages per hour: 60
If these limits are true, it’s very possible that I did more than 60 likes in an hour. Honestly, I could do that in less than 2 minutes. It’s so easy when you’re scrolling and see so many pretty pictures. So this is what I think trapped me, if anything.
But the right thing to do in this situation if Instagram wanted me to change some behavior, would be to simply send me a notice of some sort (a pop-up, a notification, an email, etc) to inform me of the behavior I should change. Or block me from that action until the timeout is over. I would’ve gladly changed this behavior if I was aware of it. But it’s not right to straightaway deactivate someone’s account without warning instead.
#4 User Complaints
If enough users reported against me, or a single user reported against me multiple times, then Instagram can deactivate the account without warning. But since Instagram won’t notify you of any reports made against you, then you don’t have the opportunity to change your behavior. And also, someone might’ve just been acting out a grudge too. If that’s the case, then people can be victimized by losing their accounts when they cross someone who is very disgruntled.
I don’t believe that I’ve angered anyone enough to motivate them to do this to me, but I can’t rule it out.
#5 Logging in from Multiple Devices and IP Addresses
Most of us have multiple devices and therefore multiple IP addresses. If Instagram notices too many log-ins from multiple devices or multiple IP addresses within an unspecified timeframe, then they could interpret that as suspicious activity and block you. Awareness of this may help you to prevent it.
#6 Third-Party Apps and Buying Followers
I haven’t used any third-party apps for Instagram so I’m not very familiar with them. But apparently, there are apps out there that monitors your follower activity, tracks new followers and unfollowers, and will let you buy a ton of followers for your account. But all of these apps are no-nos so I wouldn’t recommend trying any of them. These apps could be one of the reasons your Instagram was deactivated.
#7 Violating Community Guidelines
This is the catch-all to explain the reasons your Instagram was deactivated. But some of the guidelines are written very subjectively so it can be difficult to determine actual violations. I definitely recommend proactively reading through the published Instagram Community Guidelines to ensure that you are not unintentionally violating any of them. The link to access the Community Guidelines directly is here: Instagram Community Guidelines.
So I’ve been obsessed with getting my Instagram account back ever since this happened to me 2 weeks ago. I’m still devastated by this since I invested a lot of time and energy into building my Instagram account. The idea of starting over just kills me. You can see that I’ve been active on it, up until the day they took it away from me and deleted all my posts and won’t let me log-in anymore…
Reasons Your Instagram Was Deactivated / Image Source: Pepper V.
#8 Use of Copyrighted Material
This one should be the easiest one to avoid. Only use original content. Always. And if you do this, then this won’t be a problem for you. If you are promoting products however, try to take your own photos of the product. If you MUST use an image provided to you by the sponsor, make sure that communication and image transaction happens in the Instagram DMs.
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I’m still reaching out to Instagram everyday, and researching different ways to contact them effectively. If you want a summary of what I’ve been trying, you can check-out my previous post here: 5 Ways to Restore Your Deactivated Instagram Account. I hope this never happens to you, it’s terrible!
I’ve literally spent the last several days trying to restore my deactivated Instagram account. I don’t know what happened. I am minding my own business, and the next thing I know I cannot log-in to my Instagram. I try to log back in and I get this Error Message that my Instagram account is deactivated for violating their Community Guidelines!
What?! I’ve done no such thing! I even clicked their Community Guidelines link and reviewed it and verified I did nothing that was against their terms. This is a terrible mistake!
The most frustrating thing about this is that there is no specific information to tell you what happened. Every inquiry leads you to their generic Help forum which is useless when you need SPECIFIC help, like, when your Instagram account was disabled for some specific reason and you don’t know why.
You start looking for outreach and there is no customer support information anywhere. I tried Googling some customer support contact information and even when you find email addresses online and you reach-out, you get these automated messages back which are not helpful at all.
I Googled so much that I even found an old Instagram customer support phone number and you don’t need to bother contacting it because it only re-directs you to go to their Help forum online. Useless.
So here are the 5 places where you can go to try to restore your deactivated Instagram account…
Restore Path #1 – Log-In Attempt Error Message
1. Attempt to log-in and when you get the Error Message select the “Learn More” link. 2. On the “Learn More About Your Account” page, there is a “let us know” link where you can tell them that this was a mistake.
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
3. The “let us know” link will take you to the “My Instagram Account Was Deactivated” Form. 4. Complete this “My Instagram Account was Deactivated” form. 5. You’ll receive an auto-email asking for proof that you are you. 6. Send them the requested proof. 7. Wait.
Restore Path #2 – Forgot Password
1. On the log-in screen, select the “Forgot password?” link. 2. On the “Trouble Logging in?” page, select the “Need more help?” link.
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
3. The “Need more help?” link will take you to a Request Support Form. 4. Complete the Request Support Form. 5. You’ll receive an auto-email asking for proof that you are you. 6. Send them the requested proof. 7. Wait.
All 3 of the above restore paths will deliver the following auto-email to you…
The Auto-Email You Will Receive
The auto-email you receive via the above 3 reporting avenues is the same. It basically asks you for a selfie with some identifying information about yourself.
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
Just make sure that you follow their instructions here perfectly. And then you wait. I’ve been waiting a total of 5 days and I haven’t heard a peep. This is terrible customer service from a company that makes BILLIONS of dollars off of us. I’m not happy.
Restore Path #4 – Meta Accounts Center
This restore attempt is not possible via your mobile device or via the app. This restore attempt you will need to log-in directly on your computer. And, this restore attempt is only available if you had previously connected your Instagram account to your Facebook account. I found it by accident when I was looking for support help on my Facebook, since I knew that my Instagram was linked to it and perhaps there was a different way.
1. You will need to log-in to your Facebook on your desktop/laptop computer. 2. Go to your Facebook Settings. 3. In your Facebook Settings, scroll all the way to the bottom of all your options – there are alot!
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
4. At the bottom is a logo for Meta, and you can click on the “Accounts Center” link. 5. Here, you will see your Instagram account listed with the Status of “Disabled”.
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
6. You can click on your Instagram account here and it will open a “Reactivate” option for you!
Deactivated Instagram Account / Image Source: Pepper V.
7. Good luck! Unfortunately, when I clicked the “Reactivate” button I got a “page cannot be displayed” error message. I’m still sharing this path with you in case it works for you – perhaps they fix it soon or perhaps there is a setting on my computer that caused it to glitch.
Restore Path #5 – Direct Emails
I’ve found several email addresses for Facebook and Instagram support, and I’ve emailed all of them. I never received an “Undeliverable” message from any of them, so I assume they all arrived at their destination, which may or may not be monitored. But if you are desperate like me, then it is worth a try. So far, I received a couple of auto-email responses back, but no real help by this method, but perhaps you will have better luck than me. The email addresses are:
Anyhow, so this is what I’ve been experiencing since Wednesday when I first discovered my deactivated Instagram account. I’m so upset. But I’m especially upset that Instagram has basically been ghosting me and I have ZERO information to work with. Being left in the dark is worse than this mistake happening in the first place. Because they could’ve made it right for me.
I’m very pleased to announce that our latest Subscriber Spotlight winner is Tater from The World’s Common Tater. He is a dad, husband, writer, and avid fan of tater tots (hence, his alias) that gives you a heart-felt glimpse into his daily life with occasional snippets of his past. The best is when he shares stories from his time in jail! Yes, you read that correctly.
Today is also his birthday! Happy birthday, Tater! Below is a photo of Tater with the actor Henry Winkler…
Q1 2022 Subscriber Spotlight – The World’s Common Tater / Image Source: The World’s Common Tater
The World’s Common Tater blog is very prolific so you don’t have wait long for a new update! Tater is also very well-versed with current events, television, movies, music, sports, and books so there is no shortage of material for him to catch your attention with. He specifically caught my attention with his posts about his toxic workplace (oh gosh I can relate so hard!) and then his posts about how he actually QUIT (my DREAM!!!). He’s kinda my hero because of this.
Another one of my favorite things about his blog is the quality of comments from all his readers. He’s managed to produce content that is very interactive, and you can see that from how active his comments section usually is.
Tater does have social media accounts too, so if you enjoy those other platforms you can find him below:
And he is also on this platform that I discovered only because of his posts about it, named “Medium”. Have you all heard of this already? It’s a platform for writers and there’s opportunity to make income on it by publishing your posts to it. If that’s up your alley, then definitely check out Tater’s “Thoughts on Writing on Medium” for a great review of the service, and you can use his referral link that he included in his post to give it a look.
Please give Tater from The World’s Common Tater a warm welcome. I enjoy his writing and his frequent interactions, and I’m happy to consider him a new friend.
Don’t forget to wish him a happy birthday too! 🙂
P.S. If you are unfamiliar with my Subscriber Spotlight, it is a quarterly drawing of my email subscribers where the lucky winner will get a promotional blast of whatever they want. Tater is the lucky winner for this quarter. The next drawing will occur at the beginning of April 2022 (just a few more weeks away!). Don’t hesitate to subscribe below to be included in the next drawing!
2021 was such a challenging year for me, as well as many of you! But we survived and made it through, with some bumps and scratches along the way.
So looking forward to 2022 and beyond, how many of us need a change?! I do! I’ve been working from home for 2 years now and it has definitely taken a toll on me. I’ve gained 20 pounds, I am now pretty much sedentary, I am burned-out with work and chores, and I have ZERO social life. I’ve blogged about this before so this will sound familiar to you if you’ve been following me, but I can’t seem to shake this rut I’m in. I need something to kick my butt and get me on the right track.
I’ve been doing some online research about CrossFit the last few days and I’m suddenly intrigued. Could this be what I’m looking for?
Now, you’re probably visualizing someone like The Rock when you think of CrossFit – because I did! There does seem to be this pre-conceived notion about the type of person who does CrossFit, where they are incredibly muscular, they are young, and they can pleasantly shimmer when they exercise. But despite being none of those things, I can do CrossFit too! One of the first things I discovered is that CrossFit is actually quite suitable for all ages and fitness levels.
So what is CrossFit exactly? CrossFit fans will claim it is a lifestyle and community focused on being healthy overall – including your physical well-being, nutrition, and even your life fulfillment. For a path on how to make this lifestyle transformation happen for you, CrossFit Solid Orange offers this, and you can feel how passionate they are about changing lives and welcoming you into their CrossFit family when they share their core values and introduce their head coach.
As a more tactical answer to that question above… CrossFit is a form of high intensity interval training, with a workout schedule made up of functional movements that mimic common movements necessary in day-to-day life such as squatting, jumping, lifting, pulling, and pushing. The workouts feature different variations of these movements and can utilize assorted equipment to facilitate building muscle, like kettle balls, medicine balls, ropes, rings, tires, etc.
Because Crossfit focuses on the fundamental movements that we all do in our everyday lives, this workout can be extremely effective and modifiable for the full spectrum of ages and athletic capabilities. The workout movements will be similar, but the variations will mostly be in the weight and the speed. The beginner can still complete all Crossfit workouts, and will just need to modify their exercise to be level-appropriate and then scale up safely to meet their goals.
But the best part is that you don’t have to figure this all out on your own! There are CrossFit gyms everywhere, and if you live in Tennessee like I do, then specifically Crossfit Gyms in Nashville will get you pointed in the right direction.
If you are still unsure and want more information CrossFit Solid Orange in particular offers a “sweat-free” consultation appointment with their head-coach, or a “test-drive” of their CrossFit classes. Their classes start as early as 5am everyday for those of us that need an early start to get ahead of our daily responsibilities. They are also not shy about posting their testimonials and reviews so check-out what other people say about them too.
One testimonial that I appreciated very much because it gave me a sense of community (which I’ve been missing tremendously since I’ve been working-from-home this whole time), was “There are people from all walks of life coming together to get better. We all push each other when we struggle and we all celebrate when someone hits a Personal Best. Strongly recommend to any level of fitness.” And having others around me going through the same thing, and encouraging each other, is a characteristic that I know would make a difference for me.
Thank you for allowing me to share with you what I’ve learned about CrossFit lately. I’m still curious to see if this is the kick-start that I’ve been needing! It just might be! Definitely let me know if you give it a shot too and what you think of it!
So, last week my part of the world got hit with an ice storm that knocked out our power. And, like anything remotely interesting that happens to me, I tweeted about it. See my tweet below…
Viral on Twitter / Image Source: Pepper V.
And frankly, I felt like it was a normal tweet. Nothing too noticeable about it. I expected my normal 0-2 likes and that’s it.
But for some odd reason, it went viral! Now, looking at the numbers I know they aren’t a big deal in Twitter-world. But to me, this was a big deal. I had never gotten this much attention on Twitter before. And to be honest, it wasn’t that great.
Some observations I can make from this:
MOST people are kind and compassionate. And these are the folks that I want to hang with. Good vibes only and well-wishes shared. So awesome! I love these people.
SOME people are just plain ol’ abusive jerks, that just want to spread misery everywhere they go. I hate these people. These are the folks that wished ill on me and my family. They called me names, and called me many shades of weak for “whining” about not having power. I had one commenter abuse me for CHOOSING to live somewhere where this could happen to me. Um, sometimes where you live isn’t a choice if you have family or work obligations. AND, I really don’t live in a state where this happens often. This was an anomoly event. Weather events as well as anomoly events can happen anywhere and people don’t necessary choose that or have control over that.
SOME people make everything political. I had political debates regarding green energy vs non-green energy and horrible arguments unfolding because of this tweet, despite nobody knowing my specific energy situation – was I green or non-green? The folks arguing about it did not know and they did not care. Soooooo unnecessary.
SOME people make everything racial. Yes, I indeed had some comments about how my power outage was racist against black people. I have no further words about this.
SOME people are just evil stalkers. I had one commenter start STALKING my other commenters and leaving them horrible comments on my Twitter feed. For example, one commenter left a normal response like “Hope you get power back soon!” or something like that. The stalker commenter then went to his profile and saw that he had just taken his wife to the hospital to have their first baby. So the stalker commenter started abusing him ON MY TWEET that he is a terrible person for being on Twitter while his wife was having a baby. And the stalker commenter did this with quite a few other people too, bringing their own business into a tweet that had nothing to do with them. It was terrible!
And those were some of my observations about going viral on Twitter. I mean, the moral support that I received from most people was totally worth it. But there really are horrible people out there. Really.
