Web Success Diva’s Facebook Disabled for Nudity?
October 17, 2008 · Social Media Marketing, WebSuccessDiva Recommends
… Perhaps the pictures of my son in his hospital gown were a little too racy. Or maybe it was the fact that I had reached 5000 connections and still had over 1,500 requests from others sitting in my account… I guess there is a new strategy spammers are using to attract hundreds of people to them and I resembled that. But, that couldn’t possibly be it, after all, Facebook only allows you to add a certain number everyday and you can only add up to 5000… Or maybe, just maybe, it was the email I sent to my good friend, thanking him for being a good friend… Or maybe it was the group message I sent in my “Marketing Masters Group” letting them know of an valuable interview with Online Visibility Expert Nancy Marmolejo coming up… But, how could that be it, if you have a group that you never sent invitations for, people joined on their own (part of a Web Success Diva experiment) - are you not allowed to message them.
Here’s my list of what NOT to do or it’s over for you on Facebook:
- Don’t post pictures of any part of your body that is not covered up, unless your the girls I found after searchging for “sex” on Facebook. Although I’m still not sure how my elbow in picture #1 and 7 would compete with these lovely ladies.
- Participate, but don’t really participate. Just half-*ss participate, so as not to raise the glorious flags of Facebook that you’re a spammer.
- Don’t use any other name than what is on your legal birth certificate, or as advised by Thor Muller advises, they will find out, hunt you down, and spit you out!
- Don’t do anything that is listed here, Facebook Giveth and Facebook Taketh Away, or here, Facebook Account Disabled.
- Don’t sign up for schools or affiliations you really aren’t a member of, if you do, Facebook knows and you’re doomed.
- Don’t sign-up if you are a cow, dog, or library! Shame on you little rover! How could you corrupt Facebook’s system!
- My personal favorite, don’t sign up if you are under 18, unless of course you are under 18 and a member of an approved high school group, but not if you are a homeschooler.
I guess I consider myself in good company:
Robert Scoble’s Facebook Account Disabled
Rodrigo Sepulveda’s Facebook Account Disabled
Guy Kawasaki’s Facebook Account Disabled
Google Friend Connect Disabled by Facebook
The Stop Honor Killings Non-Profit Cause Disabled by Facebook
Special Thanks:
Ron Hudson of Immediate Influence for Starting a Group for My ReInstatement in the middle of the night 
Jim Turner for spreading the word and being one of the first to support me
And for the many others who help spread the word.
What are the real lessons here?
- Don’t ever, ever put your social media eggs in one basket. In other words, if Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media site is the sole source of leads for your company - you need to reevaluate your online marketing plan. Facebook was a great place to stay on top of what my colleagues were doing, but not a marketing center for me.
- As infeasible as it sounds, read the Terms of Service for every social media site you are active on a daily basis. Google for experts on those sites and find out what they have to say. Goolge for disabled account issues for each, find out what the killers can be. Sounds weird, but in my search hundreds of people, obviously not spamming or harming anyone, where disabled without every really understanding what happened.
- Always remember, social media and sites like Facebook are tools. Similar to point 1, if your business would take a huge, huge hit from not being able to use them, think twice about how much time you dedicate to them.
And, the last lesson?
Make sure you’re actually building relationships, I was and in the end, all of those relationships rose up to support me in my time of need. That’s the real power of social media.
Join the Facebook Group
Related Diva Posts:
- Doing Social Media Marketing Right with Nancy Marmolejo
- Social Networking Taken to the Next Profitable Level
- Beyond Social Networking to Profitable Community Empire
- Free “Don’t Pimp Yourself on MySpace” Teleseminar Coming Up
- Your CRAZY if you think you do not have time for that Facebook!
I was disabled on facebook because facebook double posted all my posts and I was deemed a spammer. I was reinstated after about 7 days even though they admitted it was their fault
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I like that point #1 that you made about not putting all your eggs in one basket. One tweak in the algorithm of any search engine or social networking site and all of those eggs could go splat. That being said, sounds like you were done wrong and will be reinstated quickly after they see the problem.
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Dear Maria,
Although we have not met personally, I have come to “know” you by your pleasant, enthusiastic presence on Twitter and Facebook. When I learned your Facebook account had been disabled, I immediately joined the Reinstate Maria group and sent the following message to Facebook. I hope it helps.
Phoebe
*************
Dear Facebook:
Although I appreciate the lengths you go to in order to keep Facebook a safe, friendly place for people to network, we all know that glitches happen. When I learned that web professional Maria Reyes McDavis (aka websuccessdiva) recently had her Facebook account disabled, the first thing that ran through my mind was, It must be a glitch.
Ms. Reyes McDavis is the quintessential professional who would NEVER do anything to knowingly violate the terms of use of ANY social networking sites - certainly none of the things she is being accused of. Ms. Reyes Davis earns her living by helping people make the most of their social media experiences. She would never jeopardize her career by posting inappropriate photos or sending inappropriate messages. Even if she wasn’t the websuccessdiva, she is simply not the type of person to engage in such activities.
I am confident that once you review her case, you will see that nothing inappropriate occurred and will reinstate her account. I can only hope that this happens sooner rather than later.
Thank you for looking into this matter. And, again, thank you for doing your utmost to maintain a fun, friendly environment. Because of your efforts, this is my favorite networking site.
Sincerely,
Phoebe King
Chicago USA
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WebSuccessDiva Reply:
October 20th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Wow, I am honored at your effort
Truly amazing to me and so glad that my participation reflects this kind of character. You rock!
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Elbows are very inappropriate, young lady! Do you plan to create a new Facebook account to keep up with the Web 2.0 Joneses? Or has this experience left a bad taste in your mouth. Whatever you decide, good luck! Thanks for the tips on what not to do!
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Maria:
Facebook’s rules and regulations are so random, a person like you giving great information gets booted while the millions of absolute idiots spamming me day after day remain.
What gives?
Diversify your social networking presence indeed… and stay far away from the Facebook Police.
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Well them banning you sounds very crazy and now I must take a look at my own profile.
I am going to have a few backup group networks ready to use in advance in case this happens to me on Facebook. Unreal!
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That’s the problem with a lot of the social networks is that they’ll unexpectedly go on some great banning spree with little or no justification. Look at Digg, banning so many people that build the community from the ground up. Hope it works out for you Diva.
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I have to say I am intrigued as to what you could have really done to incur facebook’s wrath! So long as you were keeping to the rules, why would they just arbitrarily decide to ban you?
Good to see you’ve had plenty of support though, hope it works out.
Richard
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Phoebe King Reply:
October 24th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
That’s the whole point, John. Maria didn’t DO anything! She was arbitrarily picked out of a lineup, arrested, tried, and convicted without even knowing what the real charges were!
I think Facebook is struggling to catch up with its changing demographic. It’s not just for kids anymore. And “they” (meaning the 20-somethings who founded and run the company) don’t get it. So, instead of opening their arms to embrace the many new ways professional social media marketers are making use of the medium, they’re acting more like those crabs that pull the other ones down that get near the top of the bucket!
Don’t punish the Websuccessdivas, Jim Turners and Mari Smiths (who’s getting close to that magic number) who are successfully employing social media strategies; instead, Facebook should be finding ways to support their efforts! The FIRST thing that comes to mind is raising the limits to how many friends one can have. Jim tells me he’s got hundreds of people waiting to be Facebook friends (including me), but he can’t ’cause he’s reached his “limit.”
If Facebook doesn’t grow up and become more adaptable to its changing role, it may find itself pulled back into the bucket with the rest of the crabs, while another, more nimble one, gets out, freeing itself to reach the next level.
Food for thought.
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Facebook goes to great lengths to deal with spammers and others of the same breed. Obviously they are a bit overzealous with their attempts to keep unwanted posts and requests out; Diva got disabled. I am positive this was a glitch. I also had this problem but it was for a split second, my account was disabled one day (for no reason) and enabled the next (without any email request). Good luck!
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LOL, Don’t post pictures of any part of your body that is not covered up, including your face?
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Thanks for the warning not that I’m really using Facebook. As you say we have to stay by the rules other wise it over for you. I have a facebook account but I’m using it one or twice in a mounth. It was nice of you to sharing this with us.
Thanks again!
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Hey Diva, now I know, you ARE the megawatt I thought! (See the message I included in the friend request.)
All the best in rebuilding this one basket.
And PS, watch out for those elbows - they do have a rather, er ah, potentially misleadingly pointed aspect to them, heheh….
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Facebook is the pits..see my blog on this http://swimanog.wordpress.com
Back to the pool of life.
Best,
Swimanog
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