Leaving Instagram and What Will Change

The first social media I joined as a writer was Twitter. (Now known as X.) That’s where a lot of writers, authors, agents, and publishers were at the time.

Then I joined Instagram.

Now, I sit here, writing out the reasons why I am choosing to leave Instagram. I am not closing my account. Not yet. The volatility of TikTok doesn’t make me feel confident enough to shut everything down.

I am one of the many authors whose books Meta stole to train its AI. My most recent book, The Dreams Between Us, is listed in the LibGen database. Due to this, I have chosen to step back from Instagram for the time being.

I can’t say I will leave Instagram forever, though I respect the authors who have taken that route. For now, you will not see me on Instagram. Anyone who wants to contact me can find me on TikTok or X, or they can email me at authorbrookeriley@gmail.com.

You will also see me posting more regularly here. Updates about my writing, snippets, and anything else that needs to be announced will be found here on Substack. (Subscribing is 100% free!)

I have enjoyed Instagram as much as anyone else. My relationship with social media has not been the best. I struggle with marketing myself. My heart lies in the written word anyway.

Instagram and Threads are not my place in this social media landscape anymore.

Again, I will NOT sit here and stay I will never return to those places. I don’t want to disappoint anyone by making promises and breaking them should I choose to return someday.

But piracy at the hand of a very large company that could afford to pay for the materials they acquired for their purpose many times over is not something I can stand to support.

Piracy happens a lot. Piracy is not something that can entirely be stopped. But if a company like Meta does it, what stops others?

Where do we draw the line?

I am not asking everyone to leave Instagram. Some of you are out there fighting the good fight on enemy lines, and I support that.

But for me, I have to do this. I have to stand by my book. Atlas and Ophelia deserve as much as this.

Only The Dreams Between Us is my written property. I am not the same Brooke Riley who took part in a research paper. All rights to the person who shares my name and the other writers of the paper.

If you are a writer or author who was stolen from, this article from the author’s guild is very helpful. This directory is what you can use to search your name and see if you are a victim of this.

I have followed the process. In my future books, my copyright info will include the shields against AI.

I have to give a very big thanks to my friend, Bree Dawn, who shared the Substack of an author who has decided to leave Instagram as well. I would not have known to educate myself on all of this, and would not have gone down the obsessive bunny trail had I not known about this post.

It is wholly unfortunate that these kinds of things have to be discussed. But on the flip side of the coin, it is wholly necessary.

I cannot be a dystopian writer, writing rebels and standing up for the things they believe in without doing the same myself.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me through the entire journey that has been writing and publishing books. This is definitely not the end of my writing journey. It’s only just begun.

Until next time,

Keep Rising. 💙