My Experience of Being Hacked & Deleted From Facebook

Recently my Facebook account was hacked and deleted. Here’s what I learned:

1. When we are a “serf on someone else’s digital land,” as a friend of mine phrased it best, bad things can happen. Every day, we willingly give our thoughts, insights, and pictures to social media.

2. Facebook and Instagram are connected—if you lose one, you lose them both! Ouch… again, it was not fun.

3. We must own where we put our content, or at least back it up, so that way if it’s lost, it’s not lost forever. I acted fast and reached out to my business coach and marketing friend for help.

4. I had an addiction. I used it to fool myself into thinking that I was always connecting with people and working when I was on those apps. I noticed that, on the first day of not having these apps, I still naturally kept going to the icons on my phone and clicking them. I finally deleted them and that helped a bit.

5. My mindset is strong. Sometimes, there are things in life that I cannot control. It’s OK! Once I realized the likely fate of what happened, I accepted it and moved on quickly to find solutions for the future.

6. I’m still gun shy with social media. Maybe I’m still a bit mad, too. Frustratingly, there is no way to contact a real human at Facebook for help. After a few days, I was able to create a new account, and I’m very slowly working through accepting new friend requests.

7. We always need to find the silver lining. I no longer have 5,000 Facebook friends, through which I must scroll to find someone to remove whenever I add a new friend. Though no longer publicly displayed on Facebook, all of my memories last within me and with my friends and family. I’ve left the Facebook and Insta apps on the last page of my phone, and the addiction has slightly subsided. I have been more present and focused on my work and family over the last five days.

I hope you found this encouraging, whether you’ve suffered such an experience or not. As always, please feel free to reach out to the Wolek Group by phone or email if you have any questions about real estate. We’re here to help (and a live person will always be there to talk to you).