Read on Twitter
It may seem ridiculous, but my Twitter account @CarlBovisNature was so important for my mental health, that account gave me so many opportunities, it gained me recognition as a bird photographer, it enabled me to write my own book & produce my own products..
... The only reason all this occurred was because of the loyalty & encouragement of my followers, and from 2015, when I started the account, my following grew to over 54,000! An incredible amount for a nobody with a camera & a love of birds..
I started getting well known followers too, Adrian Edmondson, John Hannah, Paul Heaton, Jo Whiley, Morgan Fairchild, to name but a few.
People ordering my books, face-masks, calendars etc gave me a purpose & kept me busy every evening..
People ordering my books, face-masks, calendars etc gave me a purpose & kept me busy every evening..
... And then, my account was suddenly restricted!
Whether I fell foul of one of the mysterious @Twitter algorithms, or someone else had tried to sign into it, I don& #39;t know.
No problem though, I just needed to request a phone call to verify that the account was mine..
Whether I fell foul of one of the mysterious @Twitter algorithms, or someone else had tried to sign into it, I don& #39;t know.
No problem though, I just needed to request a phone call to verify that the account was mine..
.. So that& #39;s what I did.
Yet no call came from Twitter.
I tried again and again.
And again.
Countless times of requesting a call, but they never called.
So I couldn& #39;t verify the account, and therefore couldn& #39;t access it.
Next, I sent an email to @TwitterSupport...
Yet no call came from Twitter.
I tried again and again.
And again.
Countless times of requesting a call, but they never called.
So I couldn& #39;t verify the account, and therefore couldn& #39;t access it.
Next, I sent an email to @TwitterSupport...
... All I got back was an automated reply telling me to sign into the account and request a call to verify it was mine!
Yes... Exactly what I had been doing all day before without success! I COULD NOT SIGN IN!!
Saying I was frustrated would be an understatement..
Yes... Exactly what I had been doing all day before without success! I COULD NOT SIGN IN!!
Saying I was frustrated would be an understatement..
.. I was actually extremely stressed by the situation.
My @CarlBovisNature account was showing a & #39;Suspicious activity& #39; warning message to anyone attempting to view it.
I noticed the following start to go down, by 100s a day, & I was powerless..
My @CarlBovisNature account was showing a & #39;Suspicious activity& #39; warning message to anyone attempting to view it.
I noticed the following start to go down, by 100s a day, & I was powerless..
.. I was worried what people were thinking, worried about my reputation.
Some loyal followers started to find this account & retweeted my message & offered help, and I was lifted by their kindness
Lots of people mentioned @TwitterSupport in tweets, calling for them to help..
Some loyal followers started to find this account & retweeted my message & offered help, and I was lifted by their kindness
Lots of people mentioned @TwitterSupport in tweets, calling for them to help..
.. But of course, no help came.
I tried requesting the verification call every day, but it never came.
I noticed that @TwitterSupport tweeted about a fault in their call verification process back in August, but there& #39;d been no follow-up information since..
I tried requesting the verification call every day, but it never came.
I noticed that @TwitterSupport tweeted about a fault in their call verification process back in August, but there& #39;d been no follow-up information since..
.. Then a couple of days ago, I no longer had the option to request a verification code.. I was able to sign in again, but only to be told that the account was now SUSPENDED!
I couldn& #39;t tweet from it, or read my messages, and my following was now showing zero.....
I couldn& #39;t tweet from it, or read my messages, and my following was now showing zero.....
... From 54,000 to nothing in 2 weeks.
My sales subsequently slowed down, practically halved. My most loyal followers continued to help by following me here & being the wonderfully supportive people that I& #39;ve always known them to be..
My sales subsequently slowed down, practically halved. My most loyal followers continued to help by following me here & being the wonderfully supportive people that I& #39;ve always known them to be..
.. Yet, I feel very sad tonight about the whole situation.
I& #39;ve still heard nothing from @TwitterSupport
I know people are suffering far worse right now than a lost Twitter account, but my Twitter was my way of coping with all the current craziness in the world...
I& #39;ve still heard nothing from @TwitterSupport
I know people are suffering far worse right now than a lost Twitter account, but my Twitter was my way of coping with all the current craziness in the world...
.. I now feel like I& #39;m starting all over again, & I don& #39;t know if I have the heart for it. I& #39;m deflated by what& #39;s happened, through no fault of my own.
I just want my @CarlBovisNature account back, as before, with all the tweets, all the comments & all the followers...
I just want my @CarlBovisNature account back, as before, with all the tweets, all the comments & all the followers...
Thank you for reading.
Sorry for going on, I just felt the need to explain fully what happened, as people ask me every day.
Thank you to all my loyal followers who& #39;ve found me here. You know who you are.
Take care all.. & protect your accounts, it& #39;s horrible to lose them!
Sorry for going on, I just felt the need to explain fully what happened, as people ask me every day.
Thank you to all my loyal followers who& #39;ve found me here. You know who you are.
Take care all.. & protect your accounts, it& #39;s horrible to lose them!
I& #39;m amazed at the genuine and lovely responses to this thread! 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">
Thank you so much, I& #39;m going to read all the replies and quote tweets tomorrow, and follow everyone back too!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤗" title="Umarmendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Umarmendes Gesicht">
Goodnight, my friends.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">
Thank you so much, I& #39;m going to read all the replies and quote tweets tomorrow, and follow everyone back too!
Goodnight, my friends.
