9 Years, 72,000 Followers, Here's Why I am Starting Over

I cannot believe this is happening, but I also feel I have no choice at this point.

For 9 years, I've poured my heart and honestly thousands and thousands of hours into creating posts and growing my Instagram account into a wonderful community of almost 72,000 people who care about building a world where everyone can participate. I am deeply grateful for each of you and every relationship, connection, collaboration, and spark of change that has come from @theablefables on Instagram.

 

If you've been around from the beginning, you may remember that every Halloween I used to hold a huge Halloween contest. The first year I ran it, I was flagged by Instagram for too many comments. They thought I was a bot account and froze my ability to comment, post, and reach people.

So, the following year, I moved it to my website. Moving it to my website required me to purchase a plug-in, but the plug-in didn't work as intended, and I had to hand-count hundreds and hundreds of votes.

 

After that, I thought I'd found a way to hold it on Instagram again, but unfortunately, it didn't work, and my account was suspended and I was notified I was at risk of loosing my account. When the suspension was lifted, I was restricted from feed posting and commenting.

 

Ever since this happened, my account has been restricted many times, whether from posting, commenting, reaching new followers, or sharing links. When I log in, there is notification from IG that says they believe I am a spam/bot account, then it will say what my restriction is (unable to post, comment, share links etc).  Ironically, Instagram's AI bots think I am a bot. 

Over the last two months, this has been happening more and more. I'm able to appeal the restrictions, but after an appeal, my engagement tanks, and I'm unable to reach new followers, only existing ones, for quite some time. It's recommended that after each restriction you wait to post for 72 hours to a week, sometimes more. As a small business, and especially with the holiday approaching, I cannot afford to keep doing goin through this cycle, and it wildly frustrating and upsetting.

 

The Able Fables is my heart, my passion, and how I make a living. I would absolutely love to keep The Able Fables alive for as long as I live. And after months and months of frustration, I feel like the best thing I can do for my business is to move forward is to start fresh.

Leaving an account that I've poured everything into is terrifying, yes.

But, like I wrote in my book Goldie's Tasty Tacos, numbers, awards, and achievements DO NOT determine our worth.

 

The power of loving what you do, the power of community, and the power of passion are far more important than a number on a screen.

 

 

I'm want to keep creating, keep advocating, keep sharing stories, and keep building a community of people who believe in leading with love, building belonging, and cultivating communities that include. 

 

I hope you'll join me in this next chapter. Your support for The Able Fables and your commitment to inclusion mean more to me than any follower count ever could. If you would like, you can find my new account at @ablefablesnicole on Instagram!