My Instagram was Hacked .. It was a Blessing in Disguise

I spent 7 years working on my Instagram, posting nearly everyday for my business. When my Instagram was hacked, I realized it was exactly what needed to happen for my personal growth..

Instagram. 2010, this social media platform rapidly exploded. The infamous #selfie was seen on everyone’s timeline every 18 minutes. Dog pictures, post-gym selfies, insta-couples, duck faces. It was the best thing since Facebook. I was apart of it, we all were. We would get sucked in, thinking to ourselves “5 more minutes” as hours go by, eyes glued to the phone, scrolling, tapping, scrolling.

As social media grew, it became the new way to self promote and attract business. This worked in my favor, as I was a personal trainer, and I was able to meet new clients through my instagram. My followers grew as my posts became more valuable. Workout videos, client testimonials, fitness photoshoots.. I relied so heavily on this little app. From the palm of my hand I was able to grow my business.

My Downfall

I had a personality on my instagram. One that I felt I had to uphold since I first posted. I felt I had an audience watching me, and I had to make sure I was acting “myself”. I had to be positive and happy! Motivated and super consistent!

Eventually, all of this led to a point where I didn’t even know who the hell I was – both on Instagram and off. I would look in the mirror, unable to recognize myself. As we all know, it seems as though everyone on instagram is just, plain PERFECT! So, of course, we all had to make sure we seemed perfect too.

Thats the thing about social media. We make these accounts to show off our lives, only to realize 1. Theres not much to show off and 2. Most of us don’t even know who we are when we make these accounts.

We post pictures, with captions of quotes we never use in our day to day life. We post edited pictures of our “best angles” so the likes, comments, and DM’s rush in, and any emptiness was filled.

It was our form of self validation. Feeling down or insecure? Just post a hot selfie from 2 weeks ago and fill that void of self love! You’d sit in your bed, looking a mess, unhappy with yourself, refreshing your page every 2 minutes to see notification after notification pop up. Every time someone commented, you felt a bolt of self assurance, right?

I Took a Break from the Noise

I did what I thought would help, and I deleted the app. Only to no surprise that I’d redownload it 2 hours later. This cycle went on for a few weeks, until I just couldn’t take it anymore, and I deactivated my whole account.

After about 3 weeks I felt as though I could finally breathe again. There was no more fake personality to uphold or pressure to pump out content everyday. I was no longer comparing myself to every other girl, wishing my body looked like someone else’s. No more fake audience watching and judging my every move. Most importantly, no more being someone I wasn’t.

Eventually, I decided to reactivate my account. I used my account for my business 85% of the time (the other 15% was for memes, vegan recipes, and self comparison.) If I wanted to maintain my clientele, keeping up with my content was priority.

I also missed being able to tell a story through my captions. (As I said in my very first blog, I used my IG captions as a way to help people through my writing.)

Instagram H A C K E D

I logged on, to come to my surprise, “Suspicious Login Attempt” With a verification code sent to an email I did not own.

My reaction surprised even myself. Instead of freaking out, I was shockingly calm.. almost care-free. I had my account since I was about 13. That meant 7 years of content and followers was #over.

Since I felt I was not ready to join back in the Instagram community anyway, I thought, watever, i’ll figure it out.

Weeks went by, then months went by. I tried to login again, “suspicious login attempt”. I thought, okay WTF, jokes over, I need to get back to promoting my business. Growing frustrated, I would try every solution from Google, only to find no success. I emailed Instagram, “Can’t login in, fix it now.” No reply. I didn’t expect one anyway.

I was out of options, and out of luck. My Instagram was hacked. I accepted that @liannacarlucci was #dead.

Blessing in Disguise

So, I created a new account, with no rush to get any content up. I took my time, and planned out each and every post. It was my priority to be confident in who I was, before trying to pose as this non-existent, artificial person.

I went about my life, going to work, going to the coffee shop, reading, writing, and so on. I promised myself that once this blog is published, I will post regularly for the first time in 5 months, and until I could get over these issues, I was not going to post a single thing

I looked at this as a chance to reintroduce myself.

It was an opportunity to start fresh, and be the person I really am. I was in no rush to go back to being the girl that I no longer knew. My deep-rooted issues had to be resolved first, before getting back to my “audience.” I worked on my absence of self love, my need for validation, my lack of self awareness, and all of the other wonderful issues of being a young girl in a crazy society.

When I first created my account, I was timid and full of self doubt. Every time I posted a picture, it was analyzed for hours before reaching anyone’s timeline. Endlessly, I would imagine all of my followers judging each and every detail. This mindset bled into the 7 years that followed, and it only got worse. This time around, I am creating this account confident in myself and full of self-assurance.

Grow Through Obstacles

If you are reading this blog, it’s most likely because you found it through my Instagram, which means I’ve overcame some very ugly self realizations. Now I’m here to spread my message and share my stories, in the hopes of helping some of you who might be in the same position I was in. It could be difficult to notice these traits you may carry. Sometimes you just need to take a step back , and analyze your mindset, and the actions which follow.

It is okay to take a break from the noise and separate yourself from the world for a bit. Instead of losing my mind over my hacked account, I realized it was exactly what needed to happen for me to work on myself and grow. I could not be more grateful for losing my Instagram, had it not happened, my mindset may have only gotten worse.

.We are all a work in progress, all of these humps are only here to make us grow, and become the fu%king best we can be.