and just as mysteriously as it disappeared, my @yanpalmer instagram account is back......
turns out composing a gracious thank you statement is a lot more difficult than raising an angry fist. i feel a little like a confused toddler who threw a big fit and has suddenly found out i actually DON'T have to go to my room. what?! really?! that foot stamping actually worked?!!!
although a huge thanks is so obviously due, celebrating my victory kiiiinda feels like gloating while my siblings are still being hushed off to bed without dinner. this didn't just happen to me. this happened weeks ago to a dear friend @jessicakettle and to others who've come out of the woodwork the last few days, who might not have as large of a support network to fight the good fight for them, and who's endings weren't as happy as my own
@jesskettle, @girlfort @@phoenixjamie i'm still rooting for you and encourage others to do the same.
and yet....
however compelling their or my story might be, i do not believe the injustice is something to be decided on a case to case basis---i believe it lies in @instagrams vague description of what is appropriate content regarding our children, as well as their ability to remove our accounts with no warning or even a simple 24 hours notice to say, "hey back that up like its hot," before they take our memories away.
pllleeeaasssseee don't misunderstand---getting my account back was a huge victory, i cried and mentally sent thank you, may you be rich and happy all your days vibes to all 6K plus of you who took up my cause and reposted---but that nagging feeling of winning the battle not the war is still lingering over my head. i don't want to see another mama, shocked and crushed when she loses her personal history, a very literal manifestation of herself, after naively instagramming her toddler's sandy/chubby behind at the beach.
here are some things i've learned this weekend that you can do to keep your images safe: back up back up back up. services that were brought to my attention:
socialsafe.net: from their site: "everything kept in one place. a copy of everything you said or shared every photo you posted, every friend you made, all safe in a personal library on your computer forever."
chatbooks.com: automatic photobooks $6 per 60 pages. check out their site--this is your words and photos in print for a reasonable price and that's rad
instaport and artifact uprising are also other, similar, yet different (i have artifact uprising books for some of my images and LOVE them) alternatives to the ones listed above.
furthermore, if you're posting pics of your kids and are scared about what's okay and what's not---i heard through the grapevine that the unwritten rule is basically if you have a kid who can walk, they gotta be in a shirt at all times. period. the goal though of the war is for unwritten rules to get written so we can all stop quivering in our boots.