Social media influencer: What do you do when you lose all your followers?

Helé Ananty Wansbury started her Instagram account in 2015 when she was in Grade 10. It had grown to 30,000 followers by last year, but her account was closed and she lost everything she had built up in four years.

“I started two businesses through social media, all because of the following on my own page. I was devastated when my account was closed. It just disappeared. To this day I don’t know if it was hacked or if Instagram closed it.”

The case of the disappearing account

The day it happened, she had just came back from a hunting weekend.

“I couldn’t get into my account and thought maybe someone reported a picture, so Instagram disabled it. I didn’t have a hunting account, but a beauty and business account. I tried everything but couldn’t get it back. When I couldn’t get hold of someone at Instagram, I panicked. Then I had to accept that I will have to start from scratch.”

Paid for content

Because Wansbury had such a large following on Instagram, she had sponsors who paid her for content.

“When my account disappeared, I had to make a plan very fast. They didn’t benefit when I didn’t post. I would have lost all my income.”

Growing followers day by day

Her page now has more than 10,000 followers and is steadily growing to what it used to be.

“Very few people understand the hard work that goes into something like that. There are a lot of sacrifices you have to make and you put yourself out there. I get criticised a lot for working too hard, and for not making enough time for my little boy, Zayn, who is two years old. What people don’t realise is that I am a single mom, trying my absolute best to provide for my son and give him the best life possible. Nothing came easy for me and I need to work hard.”

Still a human being

Being on social media, has taught her a lot.

“Something small can make a big difference in someone else’s life. I also see that people only believe what they want to. You cannot get to know someone through their posts. I am still human being with a real life. I try not to respond to negative comments immediately but I definitely do feel under scrutiny. And yes, I do receive creepy messages from time to time,” she laughs.

Revealing her personal life to her followers

What her followers don’t yet know, is that Wansbury now has someone special in her life and says he understands what her social media accounts mean to her.

“He loves me for me and knows that at the end of the day, the attention on social media cannot be taken seriously. It is like being rich in Monopoly. I prefer real life attention over social media attention any day.”

She emphasizes he has a strong social media following as well. “Both of us have a different theme for our pages. The whole idea of Instagram is to be out there and recognised. One has to stick to your theme and work on getting better at it until it works.”

For now, Wansbury works hard at life and if love works out, it’s the cherry on the cake.

“For me, there are a few things in life that are super important. Loyalty, positivity, dedication, courage, curiosity, pleasure, openness and being who you are.”

To follow Wansbury on Instagram, click here.

This content has been created as part of our freelancer relief programme. We are supporting journalists and freelance writers impacted by the economic slowdown caused by #lockdownlife.

If you are a freelancer looking for a small fee to contribute to The South African, read more here.