So, I find myself cut off from the Metaverse (fb and instagram) and while it's tempting to say well it's all shit anyway' I do feel somewhat unmoored. It was handy, wasn't it? Fb was still the most convenient way to reach the most people I know IRL (even if it did show the posts 3 days late, amid a wash of ads and groups I'm not even in) and I was following some pretty cool artists, pet pages etc (how will I cope without Beebsposting bath days? Awful drawings for good people? Reinas crocheted butts?) . We store a lot of memory on such apps and accounts these days, so even if I were to set up new accounts I wouldn't remember to re-add everyone and everything I wanted. The others will be gone like tears in the rain, etc
 |
| So many precious memories |
Anyway, I'm attempting to keep myself scattered about the internet but also findable, hence posts like this.
On fb I was Ruth Elizabeth Collier but also ran the Ferrets Ferrets Ferrets page. On Instagram i was @collierferrets and @colliersbooks (in the distant past I was also @collierbooks but that's something I will explain further down). If seems all of these accounts are now disabled and I'm not in high hopes of getting any of them back.
So here's a little timeline of events, probably not all relevant? But who knows.
Years ago one of my instagram accounts was @collierbooks . This was hacked, I got locked out and blocked, so I made a new account with an extra S in the name. I mention this now because Dan thinks maybe Meta is still connecting me with activity on this account.
On 15th October 2025 two things happened.
I received an email early on from LNER letting me know about a data security incident. Apparently all that was leaked was my name and email address, but I was warned to watch out for scam and phishing emails.
That evening I went to check instagram and found myself locked out. Same with Facebook. Messages from both said that my account was disabled for 'Breaking rules'. Says I have 180 to appeal the decision before my accounts are deleted. I clicked 'request review'.
 |
| Ruth Collier: breaker of rules |
Later that evening I also received an email on my hotmail account (which I no longer use for anything). Quite a hilarious copy-paste 'you have been hacked send us money'.
 |
| Selected highlights. It was a long email |
 |
| I've been a naughty girl |
 |
| All the specific dirty things, which I could name, if i wanted to, but i don't, but I could if i wanted to |
 |
| F3ar my awesome hax0r sk1llz |
 |
| Please trust me. I am an honest email scammer |
I was especially amused by the suggestion that my reputation would be ruined, if anything people would probably be shocked at how tame my Internet activity really is 😄
But anyway. Facebook came back with a 'review' saying I still didn't follow their community standards (they still haven't said exactly what it was, but something about advertising standards and inauthentic behaviour). Further reviews not possible. I don't know if they still leave it 180 days before deleting the account, or if it just gets deleted as soon as the appeal is refused.
Because the accounts are disabled, and they didn't flag a specific post, I can't say whether my account was hacked and they posted some dodgy stuff, or if it's just 'The Technology' thinking that I've been naughty. Either way, I doubt there's been human eyes on it and I don't think there's much I can do.
I've sent emails to a bunch of fb.com addresses (datarequests and support have both bounced back, appeals, phish and records may still do something?). I've also sent a complaint in to ICO, although their timescale for picking up cases is 29 weeks so not expecting anything from them anytime soon.
So right now I'm at the point of not really hoping to get anything back (although if anyone has any suggestions, let me know) but also trying not to think about how much stuff I've lost (I'm really good at shutting down to avoid panic 😬). There was an option to 'download my info' but it was just some stuff about log ins, ad preferences etc. What I really want is contact info for all the accounts I was following but I don't know if i can request that.
I don't want to set up new accounts. Not yet, maybe not ever. We'll see.
For now I've set up this with various ways you can keep up with what I'm doing. If you know me IRL (even if we've only met once) send me a message on one of these and I can send you my email and phone number if you want them. I'm leaning into more of a devil-may-care approach (as opposed to 'what information I share on which platform) but there's a limit 😄
https://linktr.ee/jellyferret
As a basic guide, if you want all pictures, Pixelfed is the place to go. Ferret videos on YouTube, ferret pics on Bluesky (but you know me... ferret pics all over the place).
Writings and updates on tumblr and substack. Maybe even here too. And potentially chat on discord if anyone wants to join me.
Oh, and one further related link...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgnp9ykm3xo
