It was a routine work day in mid-March, much like most others. But it wasn’t a good day for the marketing department of We Knife. The social media manager for the knife manufacturer tried logging on to the company’s Instagram account and could not successfully log in.
“We made a number of attempts to log in, and we finally got a message that our account had been disabled, and if that was done by mistake, we could dispute it,” said Seth Ercanbrack, Director of Marketing at We Knife. “That was it. No explanation. No warning. Nothing.”
And just like that, We Knife’s Instagram account was gone. Vanished.
We Knife’s experience with Instagram highlights a growing trend among members of the knife industry who rely on social media outlets to amplify their brands’ messages. Numerous accounts have been shut down, seemingly at random, leaving people like Ercanbrack and loyal fans of those blocked brands wondering where they stepped out of line.
An industry-wide trend of accounts being shut down by leading social media platforms – specifically Facebook and Instagram – has spurred the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) to take action. Just recently, AKTI launched a social media survey of knife brands, custom makers, retailers, and sales reps that will help detail the depth and breadth of social media challenges the industry faces.
“Social media censorship is an issue that rears its head almost daily in the knife industry,” said Chas Fisher, AKTI Board of Regents member and General Manager of Boker USA. “It’s a challenge to play by the rules and community standards set by social media channels. Nobody wants to have an account banned or removed.”
Ercanbrack said there was no out-of-the-ordinary content on the We Knives page that triggered the ban. The Instagram account was shut down a day after the social media manager posted content just like that posted thousands of times each day across social media by other brands, retailers, and the general public.
“As a team, we had several conversations to determine if we did anything to cause Instagram to conclude we’d violated their terms of service,” Ercanbrack said. “We couldn’t find anything. We still don’t know.”
Ercanbrack is hopeful that AKTI’s social media initiative can at least help establish some guidelines for knife brands who want to use social media.
“There’s just no communication from the social media companies when they choose to shut down an account,” he said. “We still don’t understand what we did. If AKTI can help provide some clarity and direction, that would be a huge win.”
Do you have a social media horror story to share with the rest of the knife industry? Email akti@akti.org with details. We’d love to hear from you.