What Got Me Banned and How Can You Get the Ban Lifted on Facebook?
I have heard the stories–People sending too many event invitations or connection requests to people they do not know, but I have never worried about those. I am always on great “social behavior”…or so I thought! I was more than stunned to get that “BLOCKED FOR 24 HOURS” message last weekend. I was thrown in the Facebook Slammer! I did HARD Social Time! I was relegated to my Twitter corner on timeout! Okay, so it really wasn’t too bad, but I did learn a few valuable lessons, and like any tragic event in life, we go through them so that we have great stories to tell! Here is mine:
Lessons Learned:
When Facebook says no NUDITY, VULGAR LANGUAGE, POSTS OF VIOLENCE, etc. You really don’t know what that means! Mothers who have photos of themselves breastfeeding a baby will be banned (if the nipple is showing, but MALE nipples are okay) and that has spawned a powerful uprising of “LACTIVISTS” who will no doubt use their influence to change some of those guidelines, but Facebook allows a photo of a crushed head. No photo of a person going to the bathroom is allowed BUT (pun intended) photos of people smoking marijuana are fine. The lesson is to be aware that the Facebook Police are scanning more aggressively to clean up the town.
When you are banned–DO NOT continue to try and log in or post, thinking it is surely a mistake and perhaps this 87th attempt will work! Multiple attempts during your sentence will extend the punishment. You could end up with 50 years to life if you don’t just log off and go for a walk…or better yet, log into Pinterest. Your time will be over before you know it!
If you SHARE an inappropriate photo or post that ends up being banned, you will most likely be serving your sentence right alongside your pal that shared it originally.
Do not waste your time trying to find a contact at Facebook to plead your case to. I figured it was a fully automated system and even got a message telling me that an autobot had removed the photo and placed the ban, but later learned that Facebook outsources the task to companies such as Odesk. These companies hire employees overseas making as little as $1 a day to comb through the site policing the over 850 million profiles looking for content that is deemed inappropriate. Bottom line–there is NOT a person to contact. You can click all you want on the help links, but you will only end up back at the Community Standards page.
If you are using a third-party social dashboard site to post content (Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, etc ) your API that links that dashboard to Facebook will also be revoked so don’t try digging under that fence. You will have to Reauthorize your APIs once the ban is lifted.
The last thing I learned was that LIFE REALLY DOES EXIST BEYOND FACEBOOK!
There was a fireball in the sky I hadn’t seen in awhile, and my dogs showed me how to take them for a walk again. And if all else fails…there’s always TWITTER! 🙂
A Facebook spokesperson said: “In an effort to quickly and efficiently process the millions of reports we receive every day, we have found it helpful to contract third parties to provide precursory classification of a small proportion of reported content.” For the most up to date information please visit our Community Standards page.
PS- Here is the photo that got me thrown in the slammer!
Working Wherever We CAN
Let me know if we can help you get out of the Facebook slammer or just the social jungle out there! Be sure to join our DIYsocial Group for tips tools and “Get out of Facebook Jail” cards!
In the world of social media and technology this year, there were many tools that stood out, or commanded lots of our attention, but we took on the top 5 that we felt really impacted business or had many of us trying to figure out how to be more strategic and effective with them.
Donna Gilliland, of MOST Training, and I managed to keep our chat under an hour. (Hard to do if you know either one of us) We broke it down into 5 segments with each under 10 minutes.
TREND 1: MOBILE FOR BUSINESS
Sometimes referred to as the THIRD SCREEN, our mobile phones, and now tablets and other mobile devices, have made it easier than ever to work from ANYWHERE.
TREND 2: FACEBOOK FOR BUSINESS
Facebook made headlines, it seems like, every day! From ever-changing privacy settings, to the movie, The Social Network, Facebook became more than simply a virtual high-school reunion. From the annoying Farmville gamers to every news station and retail store telling us to connect with them on Facebook. We end the year with a move that just may be the end of email as we know it.
TREND 3: CLOUD COMPUTING FOR SMALL BIZ
While most people still do not know what this term actually means, cloud computing and the apps that many of us use without realizing they are cloud based, have begun to change the way we do business. From storing our photos and slideshows, to sharing and collaborating on documents in the cloud, these tools are saving us time, money and lots of frustration.
TREND 4: VIDEO FOR BUSINESS
The pocket video camera and the 5-year-anniversary of the launch of YouTube have changed the way we search for and share information. We no longer need expensive video production crews to create and share content. This trend is great for business!
Trend 5: iPADS, READERS and TABLETS
2010 was truly the year of the iPad, but overall, the readers & tablets have changed the way, and the frequency in which we consume content. Business is being done on the go and consumers want content they can take with them with ease. We will continue to see these “Magical” devices appear in our work environments for years to come!
What do you think were the top tech trends of 2010? What did we leave out or put in that you don’t agree with? Share your thoughts and predictions with us! Did you notice that the word “Twitter” was not mentioned? It’s still going strong and growing faster than ever, but nothing of great note happened in Twitter Town in 2010 (In my not-so-humble-opinion!).
Gina Schreck
Gina is a Social Media and Technology FREAK! Her and the team at SynapseConnecting can help you make sense of today’s technology and use it to build your business and manage your brand! Give us a hollar if we can help- 877-978-0887 or of course on Twitter @GinaSchreck
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