My Threads account got shut down...now what?

Hey Pod Pals!

This newsletter was lovingly curated (without the use of any AI) in real time on Thursday morning at 8:55am CST.

Today's newsletter is going to be a bit different than the normal newsletter content I've put out every week since 2018.

I'm cutting out all the fluff and I'm going to need to vent a bit to my Pod Pals......

and I'm hoping by the end of it, we all come away with some lessons learned and ideas for moving forward. 

 

This week we are going to address the topic of online business simplification....specifically...

🚨 How do I survive when my main social media account gets shut down?

This past Sunday (11.2.25) I got an email asking me to "confirm that I'm a human" for my Threads account. 

I was asked to submit a code and then take a selfie and submit it.

✅ DONE.

Two minutes later I received a second email stating that the "Community Technology" had determined that my account was a bot and that my account had been permanently deleted.

They were also so kind as to mention that "you may not file an appeal".

In a matter of minutes my 3,400+ followers that I'd worked SO hard for.....GONE.

📌 Key takeaway: ZERO humans were involved in this process. 

My account was flagged by a community guidelines bot and then a bot deleted my account (accusing me of being a BOT!).

THIS should scare anyone that is building an audience on social media.

 

I spent the next three days trying to get some human support around this issue.

I though that SURELY I could get a human to just review my account and confirm that I'm not a robot.

I even tagged @Zuck and offered to send him a stool sample to prove my humanity!....LOL

I've been paying for that almighty Meta Verified blue checkmark for about a year now ($15/month)....so I thought that the Meta help team would help me sort through this.

Here's what actually happened:

For three days I got passed around between Facebook and Instagram support teams.

Everyone's claim was: We can't help you with your Threads account.

📌 Key takeaway: Threads does not have a dedicated human support team.

This realization blew my freakin mind! 

Threads has over 400 MILLION active daily users....and ZERO human support team....let that sink in.

Threads is supposed to be Meta's platform to compete with X/Twitter.

📌 Key takeaway: My $15/month for Meta verification and support is completely worthless.

 

Here is what has broken my heart about all of this: 

👉 I LOVE posting content on Threads.

I love creating daily content and engaging with other people's posts.

I've recruiting SO MANY OF YOU to give the platform a try.

I haven't felt like this about a social media platform in a very LONG time.

About 50% of my new clients come from Threads.

People are subscribing to my podcast and newsletter daily from Threads.

I feel like Threads should want millions of content creators like ME on this platform...

and if their bots are deleting accounts like mine.....

there is a serious problem.

 

What am I going to do? 

Here are the key questions I'm sitting on currently:

➡️ Do I go into Monk Mode and delete all of my social media accounts?

➡️ Do I start from scratch with a new account?

➡️ Do I try to sue Meta and get my account back?

To be honest, I don't really know where I'm at with this and what my next move is going to be.

I DO know this: I would be totally screwed if I hadn't built this email list.

📌 Key takeaway: Build your email list Pod Pals!

 

Here's where I'm currently at:

✅ 1. I'm done dealing with Meta support. They are no longer allowed to waste my time.

✅ 2. I have started a backup account on Threads.

I'm using this to try to raise awareness about what happened and see if I can get my primary account reinstated. I'm also back to posting my normal content with tips and strategies for content creators.

*I apologize for the language I'm about to use....

It has been a total mind-fuck going from posting to 3,400 followers to ZERO.

✅ 3. I'm doubling down on efforts to build this newsletter list and grow my podcast audience.

If I do decide to exit social media, these two assets will be all I have for audience growth and new client conversion.

✅ 4. I'm doubling down on my efforts for live connection with my audience.

More workshops and content collab sessions are coming.

 

📌 Key takeaway: You all MUST ask yourself the question What if this happened to me?

 How screwed would you be if your main social media platform was taken away today?

Use this as an opportunity to prepare your business foundation and build your audience in a way that will allow you to continue on.

 

I'm going to wrap up my rant by asking you for a few quick favors. Right now I could really use some help!

✔️ 1. If you followed me on Threads before, please follow my new account @AdamSchaeuble

I have pinned a post to the top of my new account that explains what happened to my primary account. 

Please comment on that post and/or share it.

If you want to go next level tag @mosseri (the head of Instagram) and @Threads when you share or comment on that post.

If we raise enough hell they might ask the bots to reinstate my account.

✔️ 2. If you know a content creator or an online business owner that might get some value out of my newsletter, please hit that forward button and share it with them.

✔️ 3. If you have any ideas or if you just want to send over a positive note in my direction I would really love that. Hit that reply button.

Thanks for letting me vent today Pod Pals....I promise to return to my regular positive mojo levels next week!

 

 

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New Content for this week:

🎙️ Podcasting Business School EP 594: Three traps that content entrepreneurs must avoid.

Right now I'm seeing a lot of content creators and online business owners struggling.

In this episode I reveal three traps that might be holding you back from audience growth and income.

  

🚨Attend my next FREE Workshop:

5 Strategies for Podcast Growth WITHOUT Social Media. Join me on November 25th or December 3rd. Attendance is limited so please only register for ONE session.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

 

❤️ If you have been enjoying my newsletter I'd really appreciate it if you would share it with one of your Pod Pals that might get value out of this content!

Just hit that FORWARD button and share it out! 😎

If someone forwarded you this email you can CLICK HERE to subscribe and get a fresh newsletter from me every single Thursday.

Talk to you next week!

Your Pod Pal,

Adam

 

⭐️ P.S. Ready for some help with your podcast launch, growth, or with getting more clients from your podcast? 

I've got three ways that we can work together with group coaching, one on one coaching, or hybrid (group + 1:1).