Facebook Review
If you use Facebook, you should familiarize yourself with all the activities that can get your account disabled. This warning doesn't just apply to spammers and other ne'er-do-wells: Even the most well-meaning users need to be careful.
Wait, What is Facebook?
If you aren't familiar with Facebook or social networking sites in general, you might want to check out this lens first:-
What is Facebook?
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Facebook is a social networking site that makes it easy for you to keep in touch with friends, co-workers, and people who share the same interests as you. You can create a personal profile, upload pictures, write notes, and send messages to your frie...
You Must Use Your Real Name and DOB
Unfortunately, these practices can get you banned from Facebook. You must provide your real name and DOB. Don't even use a nickname you go by in real life.
Also, your true name needs to sound "authentic" to Facebook. If your parents named you Beta, or if you're a British member of Parliament, Facebook could give you the boot.
Supporting Links:
- Facebook User Banned for Using Nickname: Jon Swift is a political blogger who tried to use Facebook. Unfortunately, "Jon Swift" is his pseudonym.
- What's in a Facebook Name? A woman is prevented from creating a Facebook account because the system doesn't approve of her real name.
- Facebook apologizes for suspending British member of Parliament as fake: Facebook just couldn't believe that someone like Steve Webb would create an account on a social networking site.
Individual Humans Only!
On the plus side, you should be able to create a Facebook Social Ad or Page for your organization. Facebook might even be kind enough to let you create a page about your famous hamster.
Supporting links:
- Facebook: How do I create a business account? Facebook's official answer to those who wish to create business accounts.
- Facebook shuts down my cow's account: Facebook was not pleased when someone created an account for his cow.
Don't Create Multiple Facebook Accounts
By the same token, multiple people aren't allowed to use the same Facebook account. Don't invite your pal to log into your account... but this is sensible advice anyway.
Don't Add Too Many Friends
Apparently Facebook has also banned people for being too active. If you spend a lot of time writing on your friends' walls, it could trigger Facebook's spam alert.
To avoid problems, you should only add a few friends at a time. Don't be too post-happy. Try not to be too popular.
Supporting links:
- Popular Recruiter and Blogger Gets Banned: If you have a lot of contacts in your address book, this is a good example of why you should think twice about importing them all to Facebook.
- Free the Blackadder one! A union organizer is banned for adding too many friends.
- Facebook Ban: Banned From Inviting Friends and Sending Messages: Another blogger gets the Facebook backlash.
Don't Post Copyrighted Material
There have been a couple of reports that Facebook removed some videos for containing copyrighted material. The videos themselves were homemade, but they were jazzed up with copyrighted soundtracks. One example included a short video of two cats wrestling to the music "Doing It Right" by the Go Team.If you do upload any videos to Facebook, make sure they don't infringe on any copyright laws. Use public domain music instead.
Supporting Links:
Homeschoolers (Weren't) Welcome
Homeschoolers on Facebook? Nope.
If you are homeschooled, you can still register with Facebook. You do not need to specify a high school when registering with Facebook or using the site.
In order to have an account on Facebook, you either need to be at least 18, or you need to be at least 13 and enrolled in high school. And yes, you have to be able to prove that you attend this school. Since it's difficult for Facebook to confirm that sort of thing for homeschoolers, they take the easy route and ban any homeschooled kids they discover on the network.
Unfortunately, it's not enough to provide the name of your local public school. Facebook will eventually try to confirm this, and if it turns out that you don't attend that school, Facebook will disable your account.
Supporting links:
- Facebook | I'm homeschooled. How can I join? This is Facebook's official answer to homeschooled children who are interested in getting an account.
- Does Facebook Discriminate Against Homeschoolers? An article from Washingtonpost.com
Conclusion
If Facebook becomes your primary means of staying in touch with people you know, you would be in a fix if Facebook ever decided to disable your account. Have a plan B. Make backups of your data and explore other social networking options.
More Links About Facebook
Do you know a good article that talks about Facebook users who have had their accounts disabled? Add it here.
13 Reasons your Facebook account will be disabled
This article on Get Satisfaction was one of the fi more...2 points
Respond when Facebook censors your political speech - Wired How-To Wiki
A list of things that can get you banned, and what more...1 point
Facebook proxy information
You may be wondering what exactly proxies are. Pro more...1 point
TechCrunch: Facebook Stirring Up Anger For Disabling Accounts
As if Facebook didn't have enough to worry about, more...0 points
Get Satisfaction: Facebook
This website, Satisfaction, gives people a way to more...0 points
Share Your Facebook Experiences...
What has been your experience with Facebook?
Dave wrote
So annoyed at facebook when I was posting in response to a comment on my own profile...
And received a warning!!!!
I responded by: In response to this I have never repeatedly sent the same message on facebook or made the same post.. You sent the message when I was responding to a comment on MY PROFILE not anyone elses... between me and a friend last night.. we made a few comments in a conversation manner... This is not spam and I thought this is what a social netwroking site was for... Or am i wrong???
So if you pride yourself on protecting users surely it would be if someone was placing repeated comment or spam to other users not MYSELF replying to comments on MY PROFILE???
If you could clarify this for me... as I thought spam is when you send the same thing to many users??
Awaiting a reply from them....
Awais Majeed wrote
in reply to Victoria_Neely
thanks 4 reply.But when i was in university ,university computer lab had bloked yahoo pages.So we found at that time a web link from where we used some other links to access yahoo.So please tell me any hidden way of facebook access.It is difficult but i know every problam have solution of each problam.I know Victoria u are having:)
Victoria_Neely wrote...
in reply to Awais Majeed If the office has blocked access to Facebook, I don't think there's anything you can do about it. I'd bet the office computer's activities are monitored anyway, so getting around the block could come with some pretty bad consequences. Like getting fired.

