Hacked
You’re walking through life, and BOOM everything changes. Your life can change in a day, in an instant. This recently happened to me, and I’m not going to lie, it rocked my world. But, not in the way I expected it to. On November 19, 2022, I was hacked. I was at work, busy helping the children, and my sister texted me: I think your Instagram has been hacked. Then, slightly later, I got another text saying the same thing. Hours later, I came home to hundreds of emails from my Facebook, Instagram, Venmo, etc.
I did everything you’re supposed to do if you’ve been hacked:
- I reported it to all my accounts. I made sure my bank account was not hacked.
- I changed all my passwords. (It was difficult to come up with new passwords because mine were already pretty extensive.)
- I secured all of my new passwords. I am using two-factor authorization. I really don’t like this method because it’s tedious and quite annoying.
On November 19, I was informed my account was under review, and I would receive the results in a day or two after the review was completed. There are two results: your account is restored, or your account is banned. I figured I would be able to log back in after a few days because I have had a Facebook account since 2005, in the beginning.
One day passed. Then two. Then a week. Then a month. No big deal. Although I have had Facebook for a long time, I am casually active on it—updating my status every couple weeks or so. In the past, I have thought about deactivating my account, but kept it because I have friends from around the world, and I have business pages I want to access on it. ((1) Morgan Laine | Facebook).
Every few days I would check, nothing. Until January 13, 2023 (almost 2 months later, and Friday the 13th BTW) when I was informed my account violated the policies of Facebook, and that account was permanently banned. I emailed back and wrote that I had reported the hack the day it happened, they could see that it was different than anything I ever posted (I never actually saw what the hackers posted, but I would assume it wasn’t good), and that I would like access to my business accounts. The response was there was nothing could be done, and I could no longer access that account. The weird thing is they gave me a link I could use to download all of my account information. Weird to me because if I was in violation of their policies, why should I be able to access the information that violated such policies. Also, the entire time the company was reviewing my profile, I was being sent emails about notifications from my friends. HMMM….
Now, I am left with no social media—except Twitter (@moesunshine333). I have created a new Facebook profile—same name. I am deciding whether or not to set it up fully, or just leave it the way it is. I want to be able to access my author’s page, but I don’t know if I want to go through all the work of setting up a new account. I can’t figure out what to do about my Instagram because the hacker changed my password and name.
For now, I will use my profile page to check my author’s page. So, if you’re on my author’s page, and you see a post from MORGAN LAINE with no profile picture, that is me. I just need to find a profile picture. My computer hard drive doesn’t have any pictures on it, and I can’t access my old Facebook to get a picture. It’s really funny, honestly.
Nothing has really changed. I used my Facebook to connect with people. Now, I connect with people differently. The people, who are important to me, know about me, and what’s going on in my life. I keep in contact with the people I want to keep in contact with. As I have stated previously, I keep my circle small, purposefully. I never posted personal information on my Facebook. It was mostly pictures from moments in my life: weddings, trips, football. Truthfully, no one really cares about my life. And if they do, they are in it. It’s interesting, people who I thought might reach out, have not. That tells me I didn’t really mean as much to them as we both thought. AND THAT’s OKAY.
Being cut off from social media has opened up my free time. I admit, I was a scroller. Occasionally, I find myself scrolling through my Twitter, just to read people’s comments. Why? I don’t need to add to the drama of my life (that’s a story for a different time) by reading the drama of people I don’t know and don’t care about it. Truthfully, I am reading about the drama of Aaron Rodgers and people’s opinions of him. Though, I know, the opinions of others, has no bearing on his decision to retire or not, and it doesn’t’ change my opinion on what I think he’s going to do. The truth is: social media is cruel and ugly, and it’s not something that really adds to my life. So, do I need to even participate in it?
Instead of mindless scrolling, I have filled my time with other (more meaningful) activities. It’s the end of January, and I have already read 7 books:
- The Stranger in the Lifeboat- Mitch Albom
- Have I told You This Already?- Lauren Graham
- The Highly Sensitive Person’s Guide to Toxic People- Shahida Arabi
- Talking As Fast As I Can- Lauren Graham
- Someday, Someday Maybe- Lauren Graham (I wasn’t on a Lauren Graham kick; I read books I have put holds on when they come to the library).
- I Remember Nothing- Nora Ephron (I highly recommend this one. If you don’t know Ephron, she wrote When Harry Met Sally).
- Bomb Shelter- Mary Laura Philpott
All this reading has reminded me how much I love reading. I love reading things I never would have tried to read before. I love trying recommendations other people have given me. Doesn’t matter the genre or author. My reading list is constantly growing.
Besides reading, I have listened to lots of music. Dierks’ Bentley’s new album is coming out in about 3 weeks, so I have listened to some of the new songs—bonus of being a fan club member. I can’t wait until I can hear the whole thing. His music has already helped me get through life.
I have connected more with myself through reflective journaling. For the last few years, I have journaled in 3 journals before going to bed:
- A gratitude journal
- Affirmations journal
- A prayer journal
Having no social media has allowed me to focus my attention more on what I write in these journals. I reflect more in my gratitude journal. I try to envision my affirmations. I read my prayer journal to reiterate what I wrote down. Once, it was a practice that took 10 minutes, now it takes about 30. This time of quiet reflection has allowed me to have a better mindset when I crawl into bed at night.
At one time in my life, I probably would’ve been pretty devastated if I was hacked and lost my social media. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a fun experience. I did feel like I was violated without really being violated. There are times I do feel less connected to the world. I am not sure if that’s good or bad. Social media is both positive and negative. Some people allow it to consume and control their lives. Others overshare. Social media creates unrealistic comparisons to celebrities and unknown people—people we don’t know, and people who don’t care about what we are doing—people who are photoshopped, have personal trainers, have had plastic surgery, etc. No one should compare themselves to anyone else. Social media is over-politicized, and people look for ways to be offended or offend. We hide behind keyboards. We create unnecessary drama.
Social media was created to be a way to connect us, but in a way, it disconnects us. We don’t have to socialize to be social. We don’t have to argue with people in person—we can hide behind a keyboard. Social media allows us to be anonymous. Social media adds stress to a life that’s already stressful.
I am not sure being hacked was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. Yes, it wasn’t fun. Yes, it’s annoying to have to change passwords, watch accounts, etc. Maybe being hacked taught me how to more fully live life and enjoy it. I am thankful I was lucky enough the hack wasn’t worse—that I didn’t lose any money, or my identity wasn’t stolen. I am lucky the only thing I lost was my social media. Everything is temporary, and nothing is truly lost—it’s all how we perceive things.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about whether I should keep/get rid of my social media accounts.
SHAMELESS PLUG FOR MY SISTER KAYLA’S PODCAST: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2105321/12089850
About The Author
