Hacked!
In 2015 my friend and life coach Cindy Warden suggested I start a website. I was writing a book and she thought it was a good idea to build a space where I could document my journey. She said a website is different from FB or IG in that you own the real estate. No one can take it away from you. (Did someone say MySpace?) I listened to her. I built one. This blog is on it. I can reach you. Thank you, Cindy.
I was new to social media back then. Terms like “engagement,” “SEO,” “unique followers” might as well have been a foreign language. And I surely wasn’t aware of the difference between a Facebook Profile and a Musicians (Business) Page (the latter being a space where you can reach more like-minded people and promote the projects you’re working on — sell tickets to your concert, your musical.) I would go down the rabbit hole. I’d figure it out as I fell.
It’s been about 8 years and I’ve come to know many people from engagement on my Facebook Page. We may not have dinner together, but we enjoy sharing philosophies, songwriting tips, passion for the Beatles.
After the 2020 election craziness on Facebook many of my pals ditched it in favor of Instagram, (even though they’re both owned by Meta!) I have to say I’ve flirted with ditching FB myself. But the downside would be that I’d lose those like-minded connections which I spent so much time cultivating. That said I might not have a choice but to ditch FB because…
About 2 weeks ago my Musician Page got hacked. The hackers have been posting random wacky videos on it every couple of hours ever since. If I could delete them I would or at least temporarily hide the Page so that your feeds aren’t littered with my hot mess. But I can’t. I am literally locked out. (Facebook deletes inappropriate content all the time yet they say they can’t take down the videos yet.)
Usually hackers have a political agenda. But these posts are totally random. At first I took it personally. Why me? What did I do? But I have found out there are thousands of us. My friend Keaton Simens has the same exact videos on his Page. Fun times.
FB is laying off so many people there’s no one left to deal with stuff like this. Maybe it’s an inside job — like a disgruntled (or fired) employee who wants to fuck things up over there! (Meta just laid off it’s 2nd round of cuts since November yet Zuckerberg has declared 2023 the “year of efficiency.”) 😵💫 I’ve been getting boiler plate emails from them thanking me for my “kindness and patience.” And then (in the same email) they encourage me to buy advertising (on an account I can’t even access.)
Full disclosure, I have paid into FB in the past — when my book came out I’d throw down a few bucks to have them direct info about it to compatible profiles. Over the years that pay-in accumulated. For a company to have virtually no customer support for paying customers whose brands and businesses are being trashed, is gross. Did someone say class action suit?
But I have to ask myself — even if they restore my Page, do I really want to give them another dollar? Or another minute of my time? If that answer is “no,” why do I care if I get my Page back? (I can still access my personal profile.) Here’s a reason: I have to get it back in order to be able to DELETE it. 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫
You would think Facebook could “clone” a Page — simply start a new one and bring all your followers with it. In which case I would opt for 10-factor authentication even if it would take a half hour just to log in. But now with ChatGPT will any amount of authentication matter? What a world! And by the way 2-factor authentication is useless. I have it.
I got an email from the hacker saying he (I’m assuming it’s a he) had a compromising video of me and if I don’t send him $1500 he’s going to share it. What could that compromising video be? Me singing Maggie May on the top of my lungs in my car? Go ahead, share it. I post that shit all the time.
Here’s something crazy — my followers have skyrocketed. 25k to 43K in one week! (So thank you, hacker). Bots I’m sure — which have no value. But the number certainly looks good and would no doubt impress a future book publisher. (All my socials mattered last time I was trying to get published. Did I already say ‘What a world?’)
‘Switch to IG’ you might say. Here’s the thing … the company I keep on Facebook is more mature than my Instagram community. A lot of my friends don’t even have accounts on IG. Besides which, messaging on IG is briefer. The scrolling is faster. My preference for FB makes me seem uncool but so be it. I go where the love is. That said a lot of you have followed me on IG and I appreciate it. I can certainly figure out how to get longer-winded over there.
Sigh. I went to the gym this morning and in the middle of a vigorous work out I realized I was caring less and less. Let’s hear it for endorphins! I’m trying to be Zen about the whole thing. In fact I’ve even considered that it happened for a reason. Perhaps it’s a lesson in letting go of things I can’t control.
You don’t realize how much a part of your life a social media platform can be until it’s not there. It’s like going out and realizing you left your phone at home. So should I stay or should I go? I’m still not sure of that answer. And again I might not have a choice. Perhaps the Universe is trying to make the decision for me.
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Excited to join Clay Mills @songtownusa for the next installment of “Club SongTown”, a YouTube Livestream Song Feedback show!! Trust me…I will be real…Not just tell you what you want to hear. 😳 But hey… your song just might be ready for the world. I’ll tell you that too!