Frustration with Social Media – Twitter Lockout

Since my blog usually deals with all things Italian, this post is a bit off topic. But I feel compelled to write after  experiencing so much frustration, or frustrazione in the last 24 hours. I must confess that my good friend and fellow writer and blogger, Stephanie Neighbour suggested the idea, and I decided to run with it.

I have been on Twitter since September of 2012 when I published my first book and had to learn to promote it on social media. I knew nothing then but in two years have managed to  gain over 5000 followers. Anyone who knows me realizes that I am always extolling the benefits  of social media, especially Twitter, for networking and promoting. So as a result, I am on Twitter quite often throughout the day and night. I have come to rely on scheduling websites such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite since  I manage not only my own account on Twitter, but also @ItalianTalks.

For over 23 hours now my @margiemiklas account has been locked. Other Twitter members can see it and so can I, but I cannot access it, or tweet anything from it. I suspect my account has been hacked. The entire process began with an e-mail from Twitter Support.At first I was skeptical, and researched this to make sure the message was not a scam or hoax. A few hours later, after I was convinced that this was legitimate, I changed my password. I was able to access my account, although not for too long, and then I received another e-mail informing me that my account is now locked.

This was the beginning of the frustrazione, which has only escalated since that time. After numerous attempts to reset the password and receiving this same canned text message I was ready to kill someone. Of course, there is no possibility to talk to a real human being at Twitter. The only communication is the support team via e-mail and a form.

After 18 hours of no access to my Twitter account I took action and created a new account, @margiemiklas1, with the same photo, header background, and bio. At least this way I can still tweet, but now I am starting over with no followers. What a nightmare.

The saving grace of this aggravating scenario is the support and encouragement from my wonderful friends on Twitter…too many to name, but if you go to my new Twitter account, you will see who they are. A few of them even e-mailed with suggestions and advice. Some took to Facebook to spread the word. All were so supportive and helped make this not be such a bad thing. By the end of the day, I had almost 100 followers, not bad for starting from scratch. It’s not 5000, but you have to start somewhere.

I am hopeful that I may have my original account restored. Supposedly, after signing out og third-party applications, such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, after enough time elapses, I may be able to reset my password again. We’ll see, vediamo. Patience comes to those who wait. I do not have high expectations, but some have said that after 3-5 days their accounts had been restored.

So on that note, I am thinking positive thoughts and moving forward. A big hug to everyone and please know how much I appreciate each of you!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all.