January 1, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I was having too much fun on Instagram. I was up to almost 200 followers and then my account was deactivated because I violated some rules. I’m pretty sure it was because the word I was trying to write for Korean New Year’s soup is maybe a bad word to someone. I don’t know. I haven’t learned how to type in Korean and Vietnamese on the internet yet. It’s on my to-do list for 2020, along with saving the earth. I’m just a middle-aged pediatrician trying to pick up trash! Anyway, I’ve emailed back the Instagram team and we’ll see what happens.

This was my message, ” I think the account was deactivated because I tagged something dukuk which I meant for the Korean word for new year’s soup. It might have a negative connotation. Anyway this has been very interesting for this middle-aged environmentalist. I’m really just picking up trash. Can I have my instagram account back? If not, I think it is meant to be and I won’t use this platform anymore. It’s like renting , I have to abide by the rules. but I’m pretty sure I did not break any rules? Thanks for considering. ” Signed my real first name, aka drplasticpicker.

My high-school son was very suspicious of the Instagram message I got. They had me take a picture of myself with my full name, username and code in a picture JPEG and email it back to them. If it gets deactivated, it get deactivated and I’ll chalk it up to the Pachi Mamma telling me it’s meant to be.

No matter what happens, the whole Instagram run was very fun and a learning experience. If they don’t give me my account back, I won’t return to the platform. I have other things to do like the Trashy art series I’m starting, and I’ve joined the PB Street Stewards Facebook group. But Instagram is like sugar, it’s too much. At least I got to see what it was like. At some point yesterday the app had some kind of glitch, and I got a white screen. I searched on WikiHow and figured out how to correct it, but I was off instagram for a few hours and my fingers were getting twitchy!

You see through Instagram I was suddenly friends with litter-pickers, ploggers and ocean cleaners throughout the world. I suddenly had friends in Ireland, England, Germany, Japan and North Carolina! Even a TrashAmbassador from Nepal who is a high school student on his 78 bag of trash. I gave him some advice about how to manage his cold. See even on Instagram I could not stop myself from being a pediatrician. But as my wise high school son said, these are not my real friends. Eventhough its a mutually encouraging community, it is like preaching to the choir. Whatever happens, I’ll chalk it up to a higher force leading me on the correct path. Maybe it’s meant to be so I can focus my energies elsewhere. I’m still waiting for Instagram’s reply.

What I learned is that internet real estate is like real – real estate. My blog is a single family residence that I actually own, with no mortgage payment. I own the blog free and clear. I just have to pay taxes (the yearly fee of $25) and that’s it. I can do whatever I want in my own home. Facebook and Instagram is like you are a renter, or better yet a boarder in someone’s house where they have a camera on you the whole time. You get easy interaction with other people, but you are still a renter. Not only are you a renter, but you get ads blasted into your face all the times. It’s like renting a room and there are other roommates trying to sell you stuff. Facebook is always sending me offers to Boost pageviews and get artificial likes for pennies, and Instagram is ad after ad and folks looking to sell me some eco-product or get donations from me.

Anyway, as I’ve blogged in the past I’m FISE (Financially Independent Save the Earth) so I don’t require those platforms. I don’t mind just blogging to myself. I’ve always owned the places I have lived, and never like to be a renter. I do hope that Instagram gives me @drplasticpicker back though? I want to see if that young kid in Nepal gets to his 100th bag. He seems so earnest.