Dealing with loss - Facebook

Today I am mourning the loss of 100's of friends. I didn't care enough to look after them and only realised what they meant to me when they were gone.

It's not the fact that they are 'gone' forever - I just can't poke them when I feel like it, send a quick private message or leave a silly wall post.

Last night I had my facebook account disabled. Yes, I finally broke facebook! I was expecting a warning message but it never came, just an instant ban! I was sharing the link and info I'd spent the evening writing up for my last post on a handful of walls.

"- Interest rates at historic lows of 1%.
- Banks still not increasing credit supply.
- Property bargains to be had and investors are buying.
- Is the economy in a recession & can you still make money?

To read the full write up with my views and what I think
about Interest Rates, Banks, Property and the Economy. Take
a look at my blog here:
http://bobby-gill.blogspot.com - interest-rates-banks-property

Bobby"

I was punished for not following facebook rules, having had a couple of warning in the past it must be three strikes and you're out, so much for sharing and socialising.
Then again it is their playground, their ball and their rules... Shame they don't share what those rules are so you can stay within the boundaries. What is a fair usage policy?


The Bad

EVERYTHING you've ever posted is removed, discussions you've had, your admin status in groups leaving it open for squatters. Your friends list disappears, along with all their messages and all the pictures you've spent time uploading. Cherished memories taken away in a flash. How would you feel? Do you get that sinking feeling in your gut of "Oh No!"

I had grown my friends list up to about 1300 ish, about 75-80% of these I actually knew, met or had conversed with, the others had just added me along the way as serial networkers. So it wasn't a marketing list I lost but the contact details of real friends. Having told people to use facebook as their main means of communication, now I felt the fool.
Emails, telephone numbers, website links, pictures together and the good times. Where were they now except in a virtual trash can of rubbish at Facebook HQ!


The Good

I got my time back. Instead of aimlessy surfing on facebook it was taking up a lot of time. Just like any other tool, it can be dangerous if not used properly and effectively.
There were also admin nightmares of figuring out where I knew some people from and how they added me. It got to the point where I was adding anyone that asked.
Whilst other people were actively 'culling' the number of friends they had, facebook did it for me in one fatal swoop! Bye bye facebook friends....


The Ugly

All the links I'd put to my profile and for people to add me are now invalid.
What would you do if your account was removed or disabled? There's no allowances for begging.
Just like the National Lottery advert, next time it could be you!

What about other companies that look after your information, data, email and treasured memories, like google, blogger, flickr, gmail, hotmail... etc... What if they had server problems, booted you from their website or shut down. What would you do then? However unlikely, it is still a possibility.


The Smart

Do I take this as a sign and take a break from facebook? Do I join again and only add real friends this time. Or should I see how many people I can add for the sake of playing the facebook friends networking game? Who knows.

Lucky I took some insurance out ;-) Just in case something like this happened. Have dropped them an email and hopefully the nice folk at facebook will reinstate my account. Will keep you updated.


Want to keep up with me till then? Join my fanpage here:




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13 Reasons your Facebook account could be disabled

"Here's what we're hearing from people all over the world: Facebook is shutting down accounts of users who are exhibiting any behavior it finds remotely suspicious. As paradoxical as it sounds, "suspicious" often means just using the site too much! Sometimes they warn people and give them the chance to change their behavior, and sometimes the account termination is sudden and permanent. Most of the time the disabled accounts will be turned back on, whether automatically after a cool-down period, or after prostrating yourself to the FB authorities. But sometimes they'll lock it up and throw away the key.

Facebook remains intentionally vague about what "bad behavior" looks like, and so it's no wonder that people get confused, angry or despondent when they get the ACCOUNT DISABLED message. To help people avoid having their accounts disabled, I've listed the most common reasons why people report having their accounts abruptly turned off. Keep in mind, that this list is almost surely incomplete, and until Facebook changes their policy to embrace more transparency and two-way communication we'll have to live with a bit of uncertainty when using Facebook.

Here are the things that (supposedly) will get you kicked off Facebook:

1. You didn't use your real name
Don't try to use a nickname (or initials)in lieu of the name on your birth certificate, because Facebook will find you and spit you out.

2. You joined too many groups
Remember that the maximum limit is 200 groups per user. More than that just looks desperate, don't you think?

3. You posted too many messages on a wall or in a group
Even Guy Kawasaki had his account disabled--in his case for "excessive evangelism."

4. You posted in too many groups, too many user's walls
You may be axed for being too verbose in too many places. That's what spammers do, silly. On Facebook it is better--or at least safer--to be seen than heard.

5. You friended too many people
Not so long ago this was a prime cause of disabled accounts, but Facebook has instituted a maximum of 5000 friends that should protect you from yourself.

6. Your school/organization affiliation is doubtful
The overlords are sometimes not very trusting, and they may accuse you of not graduating from Harvard (or Plum Senior High School). The impertinence! Better have your diploma ready.

7. You're poking too many people
We've heard this from multiple sources, and it's easy enough to avoid. Save the pokes for people you *really* like, as mum always said. But beware the odd FB app that pokes on your behalf.

8. For advertising your app on wall posts
The line between spam and self-promotion is a thin one, but let it be known that pimping your shiny new Facebook app is definitely considered SPAM.

9. Using duplicate text in multiple messages
Some people paste a generic welcome message into friend requests to save time. DON'T DO THIS! It makes you look like a spammer. (Ironically, pro spammers are probably randomizing their messages to avoid this trap)

10. You are a cow, dog, or library
Being a real person is not enough, you must be a homo sapien. Accounts have been deleted for cows, dogs and libraries.

11. You are under eighteen years old
According to one report a user's account was suspended when they suspected her of being under 18. She was required to enter a work email address to prove her maturity, at which point her account was reinstated. [note: other users have pointed out that being under 18 is fine if you're part of a High School group, though underage home schoolers have been told to bugger off]

12. You wrote offensive content
Reports of "sudden death" on accounts have been reported by users who were told they had posted offensive content, but were not provided details of the offense.

13. You scraped information off Facebook
They have a zero tolerance policy for page scraping (i.e. pulling content off their web pages via a script). Unfortunately, they don't have a reliable way of proving it's you who's doing the scraping (IP matching is probably as good as they can get), so you may find this a difficult charge to defend yourself against.

Finally, you may be disabled for no clear reason at all. One Australian member reported this staggering experience:

"I was blocked for a little while because I was 'misusing certain features of the site' Naturally I closely examined their conditions of use etc for some insight as to what I must have done wrong. I couldn't for the life of me find anything...

"Upon request for clarification I was told that they were not at liberty to divulge which features or of course any thresholds of use. Then they warned me not to do it again or I would be banned permanently without recourse to reinstatement."

You have been warned. Remember that the hand of justice is swift and merciless.

I’m living in fear. "

Source: http://getsatisfaction.com/facebook/topics/13_reasons_your_facebook_account_will_be_disabled