I Lost 56,000+ Followers Overnight—Quite Literally

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I Lost 56,000+ Followers Overnight—Quite Literally!

It was the morning of January 14. I opened my LinkedIn app.

Signed out.

Strange. That had never happened before. But I didn’t think much of it. I entered my username and password. And then the message appeared -

"You have been temporarily restricted.”

A quick Google search told me something chilling—temporary restrictions are rarely temporary.

It took me a moment to process what had happened. Not only had I lost all my followers—55,000 of them—but also many of my posts. For the first time, I realized that spontaneity had cost me dearly. Had I not written directly on LinkedIn, I would have at least had a backup of my work.

I tried logging in again. No change. The same cold message. Then, I was asked to verify my identity.

At LBSNAA, we were told that as a public servant, you live in a glass house—every detail of your life is open for scrutiny. Verifying myself wasn’t a big deal. I completed the process without hesitation. Meanwhile, I reached out to some of my contacts at LinkedIn.

I won’t complain. People were supportive. Fortunately, my account was restored within 24 hours. The followers and connections took a few more days to return. But even now, if you search Priyansha Garg on LinkedIn, I don’t appear. The reach still feels… restricted. But at least I have my posts back!

This incident made me think—how fragile are our identities (social media profiles)? One day, you wake up, and everything is gone. No warning. No explanation. Just… gone.

I still don’t have a solution. But for now, I’ll do the most cliché thing one can do to manage risk—diversify.

Beyond LinkedIn, I’ll also be sharing my thoughts on X/Twitter. Expect candid takes on Civil Services as a career, policy and governance, psychology, technology in governance, India vs. Bharat, and more. For those interested, you can also follow me there.

I’ll continue sharing here, but in the long run, I’m exploring ways to be less vulnerable—maybe a personal website or Substack? I’d love to hear your thoughts—drop them in the comments or send me an email.

Links in the comments.

And if one day I disappear overnight—you’ll find me on X.