4 ms·

As absurd as that story is, it's not as bad as some of the shadowbans some companies do. I have an old instagram account that I didn't use for a long time, and

As absurd as that story is, it's not as bad as some of the shadowbans some companies do. I have an old instagram account that I didn't use for a long time, and recently I logged in because I met a local musician and wanted to add her. Anything I try to do, I'm told "Try Again Later We restrict certain activity to protect our community." I have validated my phone number, the account is in my actual name, and I have provided current photos, etc. My understanding is that this is a shadowban. Why? Who knows. There's no support. Most amazingly, there are people who have followed me but I cannot follow them back. Same "Try again later". I really hope these companies die. But it's really a shame that the executives who make the decisions to run them like this don't also suffer financially. They always walk away with a golden parachute. I don't believe in hell, but if there is one I hope they get to explore it.

gspencley 4y ago
I had a similar issue with Instagram. My wife and I are performing magicians, I wanted to create an account to post stuff related to our act. Before I could even log in I was informed that my account was suspended for violating their TOS. No useful information about the alleged violation, let alone no ability to remedy. Seeing as how it was a brand new account and I never got past the registration form, I don't know what I could have possibly violated. I contacted support, received some automated replies with instructions. After following those instructions I just never heard back. I know that Instagram is a "free" service but they obviously depend on having an active and healthy user-base ... so in that sense I guess they just doesn't want our business.
- michaelteter 4y ago
  > My wife and I are performing magicians, Very cool! Don't meet many of those :) I had the same experience you describe with Facebook after I deleted my original account, waited years, and then had to recreate it to be able to get information about some event. I had somehow failed community standards before I had provided enough information to tell them anything. Support got me nowhere, similarly to TFA chat history. So I tried again some months later with a phone number or email instead of the other, and it worked. It's very discouraging to almost be forced to use a service like that to get along in the modern world. I would have paid to use it to avoid all the bs, at least for the period that I needed it.

gspencley 4y ago

I had a similar issue with Instagram. My wife and I are performing magicians, I wanted to create an account to post stuff related to our act. Before I could even log in I was informed that my account was suspended for violating their TOS. No useful information about the alleged violation, let alone no ability to remedy. Seeing as how it was a brand new account and I never got past the registration form, I don't know what I could have possibly violated. I contacted support, received some automated replies with instructions. After following those instructions I just never heard back. I know that Instagram is a "free" service but they obviously depend on having an active and healthy user-base ... so in that sense I guess they just doesn't want our business.

michaelteter 4y ago
> My wife and I are performing magicians, Very cool! Don't meet many of those :) I had the same experience you describe with Facebook after I deleted my original account, waited years, and then had to recreate it to be able to get information about some event. I had somehow failed community standards before I had provided enough information to tell them anything. Support got me nowhere, similarly to TFA chat history. So I tried again some months later with a phone number or email instead of the other, and it worked. It's very discouraging to almost be forced to use a service like that to get along in the modern world. I would have paid to use it to avoid all the bs, at least for the period that I needed it.