Recently active discussions in Facebook tagged with disabled account

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.

My two-plus year old Facebook account was disabled last week suddenly and I did not understand why until I received an email saying that I had exceeded the number of permitted messages in a short amount of time. I was messaging American Bar Association law student leaders who like me were just appointed to positions by the ABA. The students I messaged joined a new group I started. They are all willing to state that I was not maliciously messaging them or harassing them in any way. I have never before "spammed" anyone, and I did not know I was doing what Facebook considers to be over-messaging until it was too late. However, no one I sent a message to would say I was harassing them, and they are willing to support me.

This was the first time I have EVER been accused of anything on Facebook, and I believe I deserve a second chance after being a good and supportive user for so long. I have never before been accused of this in all the time I have been a Facebook user. I have always carefully followed Facebook's rules. I would never, ever maliciously message or "spam" anyone. Facebook's automated system misinterpreted me, and I am being punished for it.

I apologized for violating Facebook's terms of use. I did not realize I was doing so at the time, and when I received a warning it was too late. I have been an honest and rule following Facebook user for a long, long time now, and I have never purposely broken any rules.

I really appreciate ANY help or advice anyone can give here. I know that Facebook has a valid / legit case against a majority of people it disables, but there ARE innocent people who fall victim to FB's automated algorithm disable system because their actions and movies are completely misinterpreted. I am proof of it, and I am NOT exaggerating or misstating my case. I swear to god.

My emails to disabled@facebook.com, info@facebook.com, appeals @facebook.com and warnings@Facebook.com have all gone unanswered. I do not know where to turn now.

Anyone have any advice?

I have recently logged into facebook to learn that my account has been disabled for going over the rate limit. The last time I was on was on Monday 9/30/2008 and I did not receive any warnings from the facebook website in regards to reaching posting limits nor did I receive any warnings on going over the limit in this login email.

However, I did receive Facebook email updates from my friends who had commented on my facebook status and the status of other friends, but no warning from Warning@facebook.com in this email address.

I am aware that I post relevant pictures into a facebook group that was not offensive, not advertisement, and not spam. I did not post the same set of pictures to mutliple groups, and I did not receive complaints from facebook or from the group members on those pictures. Most of all, I did not post the same pictures on multiple groups with the intention to spam or annoy others.

Although I did post images, I did not receive any warnings or alerts from Facebook.com on the website or on email about the potential limits. The images (On Taiwan) I posted are related to the group (About Chinese culture) and it was not intended to be spam, but as a means to add relevant content to the newly created group. I have not been a heavy user of Facebook and this was a rare instance where I posted several pictures to help the group generate relevant content.

My Facebook account has been disabled by an administrator?

My account was disabled on the 26.07.08, i have no idea why. The only thing i can come up is that on the day i left myself logged in all day. I have sent emails every day since, but only had 1 robot reply saying'check your terms blah blah and we will get back to you soon. When?? How long does it take to get a reply from them? will i ever get my account back? should i just create a new account?

Please can any1 advise me of what to do

Thanks

Like so many of you here, I am a current an ongoing victim of Facebook's trigger-happy disabling procedure; I have not and will not break FB rules, and in fact have had trolls and racists banned in the past for harassing ME.

I have not only lost touch with a great many people I cannot contact any other way, but also family members I had searched for years for, and a shedload of game scores and points etc from the many games I play.

Worse still, I am told by friends still on the site that the man who has been 'telling tales' on me (claiming I am a fake profile, no less) is a know troll himself with at least 5 or 6 profiles. He is constantly reported yet stays apparently no matter what he does. I have never done a thing, yet this is now the second time this has happened to me. A friend of mine is also being targetted.

In short, we are sick of it; FB need to check allegatins before acting upon them, they need to invetigate all troll accusations thoroughly and unselectively, and they ned to employ enough staff to stick to their laughable 24-hour-response time (I have waited weeks in the past).

I LOVE FB and I will not be driven off it by some weirdo with an imagined vendetta.

I am planning on creating a site for the aggrieved to air their views against FB admin, and eventually, hopefully, effect some change in their obviously faulty system.

You may contact me at patsypatsypatsy @ hotmail . com

All the very best
Foxy