I've updated Enfont Terrible, the glitchy and chaotic type foundry that lives inside your browser, with three new text effects. Simply drag and drop a font file, and then adjust the sliders to generate a new typeface.

For me, I’ll keep posting stories on Instagram and connecting with my friends there, but I’ll also be doubling down on publishing on my personal blog, https://t.co/GNjFVRKhvt, and on the Fediverse at https://t.co/imPqa2mHFX. See you there!

And if you don’t have a blog, consider starting one today! Creating a blog is easier than ever, and it’s one of the best ways to control your content, share your ideas, and build meaningful networks outside of traditional platforms.

There's an excellent post by @molly0xFFF about POSSE (Publish on your Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere) that I encourage everyone to read and share:

To me, all of this is a perfect reminder of the importance of controlling your content and building networks outside the reach of proprietary platforms.

While sadly I can't help others recover their accounts or ask the people who assisted me (since they don't work in support), I hope this thread gives some visibility to the issue and encourages others to share their stories.

Hey, guess what? I'm back on @Instagram! Huge thanks to everyone who helped me recover my account, shared and liked this thread, or reached out to me over these past few days!

Well, well, well, the guy who has my account saw this thread and made the account private 👋

Oh, in a truly Cory @doctorow fashion: if you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

The end. Thanks for reading this far! If you're wondering how you can help, I'd appreciate it if you shared this thread. And if you know @mosseri, please let him know one of Instagram's earliest users is frustrated and thinking of leaving.

For mysterious reasons, regaining access to my content was easy, but reclaiming my original username is much harder. And while I'm optimistic about getting my old username back, I'm sure this won't be the last hack attempt on my account.

And I'm not the only person with this problem. A few days ago, I learned that @joao, another long-time user, also lost his Instagram handle in a similar way last year, and he still hasn't heard back from Instagram.

In fact, I doubt I would have been able to recover my content without those connections at the company. This highlights a serious issue that Instagram and Meta need to address in their account recovery process.

I'm getting help from an Instagram employee, and through my network of friends and their connections I've made contact with other folks at the company who have expressed interest in my case and offered their assistance. I'm very grateful for that.

As for the current situation: so far, I've regained control of the renamed account with all my content and messages, but I still haven't recovered my original username.

And do you remember how I take a screenshot of every account that ask me to sell or change my username? "Jay" did that in April this year. It seems he may have sought alternative means after I didn't respond to his request lol

Back to the story. Let me tell you about the new account owner. His name is Javier "Jay" Sang. Looking at the tagged photos, he seems to be the founder and CEO of a label called Rebel Music. Here he is, enjoying life with his friends.

This wouldn't be unprecedented. Meta has previously fired employees for hacking user accounts, and there's a thriving black market for usernames on forums like https://t.co/mPmWb9EdXu. https://t.co/4l7AHtK5wC.

On the day of the event, I received no email or phone notification about any unusual access attempts. So here's what I believe it happened: it wasn't a phising attack, it was somebody from inside the company.

My account was well-protected with 2FA and linked to a unique, private email address that I'd never shared. I use 1Password and am extremely careful about security. I've never entered my Instagram credentials on any third-party websites or apps, nor have I ever shared 2FA codes.

Ok, before I move on and tell you about the new owner of the account, let's do some conspirancy talk and let me explain how I think my account was stolen.