If the service is free then the product is you.

Gun shops are going through the same thing right now. If you are a brick and mortar store you can post pictures of firearms. But even if you try to appeal it nothing is done. The appeals are going through a 3rd party website and nothing is being done. Very frustrating.

Thats why I don't use social media regarding my craftsmanship

The very best thing I've ever done on Facebook and Instagram, is deleting my account. Hands down, THE BEST.

My Knife business page on facebook was flagged 2 days after I created it because it violated “community standards” and is now restricted. Absolutely ridiculous considering all the other garbage FB allows.

How can I purchase one of your knives?

I gave up on knife making and uninstalled their app altogether.

How I miss old youtube and Instagram. I remember talking to other youtubers on Skype. Miss that community.

I prefer your content on KZfaq. Haven't been an Instagram at all. I have an account and I will do what you suggest. Power to the makers!

I'm with you.... I mostly make kitchen knives, and my account hit a brick wall about 18 months ago... I'm not a fan of IG right now...

Power to the makers! ✊

The only thing we could do is leave the platform and move to another the problem is the buyer might not move over and certainly all the knife makers wouldn’t move.

I have the same issue. Of course I'm a much smaller maker, but I used to get inquiries on insta pretty often. Nothing for over a year :(

Man, it does seem that way with Instagram now days... I've been focused on posting on X lately... the knifemaking community is building up there nicely and they're supporting long form video as well.

Yeah same thing happened to me. I just share some making videos and leather sheat stitching, all these videos and pics are 'forbidden' because of knives

Agree 👍🏻 100%

Just watched this video and I checked my account status. I got shadow banned already after just posting three of my knives.

I once reported a short video on FB which showed a young man throwing a cat into the air and kicking it as is came down. FB said it did not go against their standards. I later had an ad removed for violating their standards for trying to sell a knife on a knife sales page because I used the word 'knife' in the ad. The whole system sucks and imo anything we can do to bring about change has to be worth the few minutes of time it takes to follow your suggestions.

عاشت الايادي

I see plenty of knife makers on instagram. Blacksmiths too. I don't post a lot of knife pictures directly there - but so far no violations.

Mastodon?

Ive been getting jammed up with this. Age restricted, or not allowing my page to be recommend. Im barely getting a follower a day at times. I have been struggle bus to get to 3k followers for the last 2 years. This hits my page hard. Wity multiple items in pic, flat lay or worn on a piece of gear. All not recommend. I actually got better engagement on wearing a knife drawn off a backpack strap while wearing a balaclava. That was fine. It was clearly a knife and that was with a ski mask on. Lol. Nothing else has been approved. Makes ZERO sense. I know makers who pay for ads and it actually gets them more access but I refuse to pay people or company's that hate what i do.

Cool knife 👏👏

What happens when Instagram shows a chef chopping vegetables, or the 20-year-olds, like my nephew, who like to show what they are having for dinner, and an offending item is shown in their video? Does a black box pop up to cover the knife from impressionable eyes?

Make it about food. Just make food that needs cut. Just a thought.

Use other things in your posts for Instagram. I wish I could include one of my pics as an example. A cup of coffee, or a wallet, and a zippo lighter +++

What we need is our own social media app... For knife enthusiasts. Anyone know a good programmer? 😅

If TikTok is banned, is that going to change things on Instagram and KZfaq?

I find this deeply weird. I make post-apocalyptic weapons and armour as a hobby. I post my builds on IG. I've never received a strike or ban. And I build things that are highly dangerous and most definitely weapons. I've followed you at least.

Don't have Instagram don't want Instagram but love SLL!

Maybe the knife and gun community should partner on this issue.

Yet another reason I will not get an instagram account.

I haven’t posted anything new on IG for almost a year now and I’m a small fish in a big ocean, BUT, I have not had any posts flagged or account restrictions. I include my favorite Bible verses in my posts. I don’t if that’s the difference, but I doubt they want the perception of attacking Christians. It might be a good test for those that are believers to add scripture to our knife posts and see how they respond.

IG will “shadow ban” your account if you post content that they don’t like. Your tags will no longer work, which makes it difficult to grow your account.

My account on Instagram is stagnant for the same reasons. However, I do not think this is an attack on knifemakers. Our community is of no consequence to Instagram. It is silly to think they are targeting knifemakers. They don’t understand what we do and we are too small to matter. I think we need to clearly understand what the real issue is. It makes no sense to think they picked out a tiny community of a few thousand people. They just don’t understand the nuances of the knife community and don’t have any incentive too. It pisses me off too. But incorrectly understanding the issue makes it even harder to fix. Thinking they have a vendetta against us just isn’t likely to be true. The people who moderate content on Instagram likely live in Bangladesh and make $2 a day. They have zero power in the organization or incentive to care.

Giantmouse

On instagram if you limit your audience to 18+ you won't get flagged anymore for knife content :)

X?

well you just keep making you tube videos. you tube is better for videos. more people look you tube vids than instagram.

They don't hate knife makers. They hate people who are against elitist control. Statistically, people who work with their hands and are self sufficient problem solvers are going to be more conservative. They are also people who would use weapons to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. Therefore the weapons must be demonized along with the people. People think it's a left vs right political issue now a days. In reality it's people who believe in elitist control vs people who want personal freedom. Welcome to the fight.

Dude, you're not really innovating. You're not making that much content, you basically make more videos complaining or on random stuff rather than making. Look at this video right here. You also have to understand that you're in a niche. Your content is inherently limited. You need to invest even more for growth. It's okay if social media growth isn't your priority, but don't waste people's time complaining about lack of growth on something that isn't even your priority.

Why not move your content over to X (formerly Twitter) Elon has done a great job so far removing the overbearing censorship.