A First Hand Tale of an Instagram Disabled Account

It finally happened. My Instagram account got disabled for violating community guidelines Saturday. Honestly, it SHOULD have happened years ago. I have tried everything under the sun on my account for testing purposes and whatnot and quite honestly, my goodness score must have been next to 0. 

So what did it do you think?

Was it 100's of comments dumping in on one second (accidentally) that I was testing a new strategy with?

Was it having my virtual assistant AND Agent and me posting stories and 100's of comments in that exact second that tripped it?

I don't know entirely though I am pretty sure it was suspicious logins over the course of the month from my virtual assistant company in a different country who had to close and quarantine due to covid and so the workers had to login from home Ips, tripping phone verifications often, etc and then when they came back to the office it tripped a "Is this you" login request. And during that hour that the VA was working, I was storying hard for a travel campaign, my agent was DMing brands, and a new strategy I was working on with 100s of comments pouring in literally AT ONCE and boom. Just like that... it was gone.

Did I freak? No. I have always known the risk. I knew this time would come. I KNEW I would get it back as many, many people have done before.

24 hours went by. I got the dreaded "Disabled due to community terms violation" or whatever that was. That's the one you really don't want to get. Freaking out level increased about 40%.

Now my mind is working through the steps of - okay so I'm on this travel campaign with a contract with posts due today, how will I spin this with them? How will I make it up to them?

All of the brands from my posts the last week or so are asking for metrics. How will I tell them I can't get them for them?

My agent, what will I tell her? That she just lost her job (fat chance, everyone under the sun wants to snatch her up!).

I submit an appeal and get a "send in a photo of you holding a piece of paper with a number on it) in which I do that on the way home from the trip.

Monday 3:00 am. Wake from stress/freak meter increasing to like 70%. I submit another appeal. I get on a meeting with my VA company first thing in the AM. The time I had available to work (kiddos home sick too just my luck) I'm researching ways to get my account back. All of my contacts at Instagram no longer work there.

I start working on plan B. Which honestly makes me think all of this is a blessing in disguise.

I reach out to accounts that could be for sale that could fit my niche. I check around websites selling accounts. I ask for metrics, I scour the dark interwebs.

Then, I hit THE jackpot. I found the perfect account to buy. Story impressions 30k-50k. Audience size 79% female, US based and ages are more in line with my ideal demographics, versus my original account, which had younger girls following me. This audience has more purchasing power. Brands are getting smarter with the metrics and these are STELLAR.

So the plan? To buy the account and transition it to a branded account for myself. 

But, I sit on the idea for a while. I'm basically going to be paying the price of a car for this account. But, it's my livelihood. It's something I've been doing for over 6 years. And it's a way that I can keep going and tell my story afterwards, probably an e-book, on how to recover and transition to a new account as a personal brand for others that this may happen to. Lessons learned, things to look out for, etc.

Monday evening, still nothing about my original account. Emails from brands are piling up, contracts have been signed for upcoming campaigns. Freak out meter 99%.

I pull the plug on the new account that has triple the size audience I currently have.

Tuesday monring, my original account randomly reappears with not notice or anything.

So now, I have an account with a low goodness score, my existing one, in which I struggle with in so many ways but I make work.

And I have an account that is BUMPING. Posts reach average around 500k-750k. Q4 is right around the corner.

So, friends, I'm going for it. I'm going all in on the new account and transitioning it. I did this process two months ago on a smaller scale. I have SOME experience.

And the existing original account. I have no idea what I will do with it. Give me your ideas! Maybe I will have it repost viral motherhood Reels and keep it as a backup.

Onwards and upwards!