I had planned on taking a few months off for the summer....a year ago. But one thing after another seemed to take precedent and I found myself saying, I'll do it next week; I'll start next month fresh and new. One excuse after the other, and the next thing I knew, time flew by. A lot has changed, and that is to be expected. Change is good, even if it isn't always easy, and it rarely is. The past year has been explosive when it comes to change, and I'm grateful for it, trust me. I have made some huge decisions for myself, suffered many tears, but all of it has turned out well. Some great things have happened because I finally stepped up and made a concrete decision. I'll have lots to talk about moving forward, but for now, let's dive in and talk about my Instagram being #hacked.
Not only has my old #Instagram account been hacked but it has also been hijacked with me unable to get it back. I didn't have a tremendous amount of followers, but what followers I did have, they were MINE. They were organically attained, and I wanted to keep them! Darn it. The creep that hacked my account stole from me. For an unsophisticated user of social media, it wasn't easy for me to gain my followers, and I was proud of that success. I want to hate him and see him suffer. I hope he pokes himself in the eye with his morning coffee spoon.
Instagram wasn't very helpful, either. Most likely because I had under 5K #followers and was not verified. Okay, whatever. I'm still important, as far as I'm concerned. I contacted IG immediately, because the minute you click on that link, you know you've made a grave mistake. Ooops, too late. Grrrr. I gave them the hacker's information or what looked like "his" information, but only received one email saying they were looking into it. I haven't heard anything since, and it's now been two weeks. I was really hoping to get my followers back, but I haven't, and I'm sure I won't. I know one of my followers has been hacked by that same #pos. After he pokes himself in the eye, I hope he stubs and breaks his baby toe.
But this is life on social media. Hackers steal our accounts hoping to either sell the account, spread propaganda, or to even #squeeze the owners for money, according to #google. In fact, financial gain is the #1 reason hackers do what they do, and Instagram is the #1 social media platform to be hacked. What a nice way to earn a living, huh? Should I be judging them? Proabably not. I hate what they do, but perhaps I shouldn't be hating the person. Who knows what's going on in their lives, right? We're supposed to hate hackers, but I'd love to talk to a hacker and hear their side of the story. What are they thinking when they hack someone? Are they only thinking about how much money they can make from a hacked account? I'm sure they would tell me it's not personal. Of course, it's personal, for criminy sakes.
When it first happened, I panicked. Like, really panicked. Jumped out of bed panicked. For a lifestyle model, this is our online portfolio. The amount of Instagram followers could be the reason you do or do not get hired for a particular job. I know this isn't always the case, but when a client asks for your Instagram handle, I'm assuming not only are they looking to see your personality through your photos and reels but also the number of followers you have. I could be wrong, and if I am, I hope someone lets me know the #truth about my theory so maybe I can put another story I've made up in my mind to rest. I have so many stories in my mind.
But, I've had to let it go. I've done all that I can, and found it easier to open a new account than continue to try and get some answers from IG. It's not worth my time and effort, so I'm moving on. The #silver lining is, I'm learning new things by growing through this experience. I'm getting some much needed help with my new account, nanmercurio.official . Particularly, creating a new bio, adding photos, reels, hastags, etc., to hopefully promote new growth a little quicker this time around. It's highly probable I'll come out much better than before I was hacked. Like I said earlier, change is growth. It's painful as it's happening, but most often the growth is far better than being stagnant. God always gets us to where we need to be and it's always better than we can imagine. This I believe with all my heart. Maybe I should be thanking my hacker? Nah, I can't go that far. Yet.