Both David Gewirtz and Tom Young had a problem with a faceless, unresponsive, inertia–bound bureaucracy that views people with problems as nuisances. Yet neither one was in a Star Trek movie.
Captain AmericaGewirtz, a reporter for ZDNet.com, was attempting to open an Instagram account. When he tried to log in he saw an account–blocked message: “Your account has been disabled for violating our terms.”
Gewirtz concluded his account had been “hacked,” a strange assumption for a tech journalist.
“Hacked” is the excuse du jour when private–part selfies appear in a politician’s Twitter account or an old gasmask bong video resurfaces. Since Gewirtz’ account hadn’t existed previously, it couldn’t have been hacked. Instead his email address and identity had been kidnapped, hijacked or stolen. Take your pick.
Still, the definition didn’t matter, the problem did. And it was potentially without a solution since Instagram is another web organization without a telephone number on the site. Anyone who’s ever called the IRS knows speaking to a human is no guarantee of satisfaction, but it’s better than casting your email upon the waters.
So what happened to Gewirtz and Young? You know what’s coming: Click on the hyperlink below and journey to Newsmax.com where you’ll find the rest of the story.
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Michael R. Shannon (The Whole Shebang (mostly)) is a Virginia-based public relations and media consultant with MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations who has worked in over 75 elections on three continents and a handful of islands.
