Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Facebook screws iFart author

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

chiropractors marketing — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:35:16 -0000

Too bad I haven't knew this before, the most famous social media sites is doing such things but why??? they should be considerate about this matter, thanks for informing us about this case like many others I want to know what action they would do about it.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Burt Murphy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:17:09 -0000

Bull..Facebook allows you to have this many friends and promote third party gaming that also promotes high memberships, such as mafia wars or any Zynga game software. Mafia wars allows you to have a unlimited mafia members, such as I with 1117. With this many members you tend to become friends with some, not all but enough to trigger the FB police to disable your account, due to the very game that facebook promotes. I am not salesman, marketer or anything related to it. As some have mentioned their rules in this regard are arbitrary and there is no SOP, facebook applies a invisible rule that users are unaware of as they see fit. obviously facebook has entrusted to much power to the admin clerks, and apparently they have deemed it necessary for themselves to become a faceless God. Facebook is obiviously abusive to there users, some one with the resources could sue Facebook and I would lay odds on that they would probably win.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Burt Murphy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:45:32 -0000

Facebook a social website that refuses to allow the user to be sociable....lol I have to laugh at a site that is self defeating. Yep I got kicked or disabled for posting maybe about 10 links and 25 comments to a friend in regards to that link. I agree they don't care because of the new users added every day, perhaps the same user that just got kicked. This site Facebook sucks and is abusive to it's users with draconian terms of use. I can't wait for the day they are hurting for users and then perhaps we all can tell Facebook to F off. I wish I had the resources to start another social networking site but, then again..

All facebook is ..is a extension for Zynga games and other third party software, you can spam facebook all day long with post of your achievements from these third parties and their games, and nothing will be done. My page was filled with these post from these games and the feeds made the pages last less than a minute. Yet i post what i did, and I get kick...F facebook.

I wonder if we could sue facebook..na not worth the effort.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Christopher Coulter — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:35:50 -0000

Anyone with 4,999 "friends" is a spammer period.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Shannon Denniston — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:15:31 -0000

Don't use Facebook for business, use it to create friendships and if these "friends" buy something from you then hey, that's a plus!

Seriously, Facebook is about as predictable as your job, it can be gone in a flash.

Take the conversation off Facebook and over to phone and/or email as quickly as possible. This way if your account gets zapped, you'll have a record of your communication.

Expect Success,
Shannon Denniston
http://shannondenniston.com...

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

CouchSurfingOri — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:10:55 -0000

It's hard for them to differentiate who's a spammer, and who's a marketer, or who's just popular... which may end up being their downfall. Invest in priorities - In a time when people are cloning Facebook, and new social hubs are being formed, they need to take a lesson from Zappos.com, and focus on making sure their users are thrilled, and spreading joyous word of mouth... not talking crap about how they've had it, and are moving to _________ (Insert new hot social site here).

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

CaptOliver — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:24:58 -0000

Watch this get "moderated"...

CaptOliver Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 27th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Good for Facebook!! Go back to Myspace Joel Comm!

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Joel Comm — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:28:12 -0000

******************************
BREAKING NEWS
******************************

Facebook has unsuspended my account.

No doubt thanks to this blog and the support of others.

Read all about it...

http://twitpwr.com/faceback

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Lennie — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:52:05 -0000

Crazy... Facebook beware. You just be the next Myspace, when something better comes along. Deleting info (read - content) is not a wise move either...

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Scarhawk — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:54:57 -0000

Once again Facebook proves itself to be run by children and pure EVIL. Half the personal data I have on there is fake, I don't even trust them with my birthday. It's fine for finding old high school friends or whatnot but I'll probably never trust them enough to use it for anything else.

It's all too obvious that everyone else knows this also. People who get things done are all over on LinkedIn. Facebook is full of time wasters and barely worth logging into even if you've got lots of friends there.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Luc — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:14:46 -0000

Yes, I know what it is like to have your account shut down with no apparrent warning and doing nothing apparently wrong, as I have with twitter and paypal. It seems to me that the bigger these already huge online companies get, the worse they treat their loyal users and the more faceless and arrogant they become. I agree with keeping your valuable data on your own hardrive and never trusting it to the like of these mammoth people munchers, guzzling us down for their own nourishment and spitting out our bones as it suits them. But rest assured, their gluttony will surely catch up with them and they will choke on their own fat. Remember, we as a mass are much bigger than all of them put together, and if we choose, together we can force them to their knees and make them serve us, as it should be, free or not. We should have user rights. Let's start uniting as a world and demand a better one. Peace be with you all, now and always...

Luc Agosti

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Jay — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:08:42 -0000

Incidents that occur such as this one, involving Joel Comm, a reliable & well respected Internet figure (among other communication modes) have a way of causing waves for themselves for years to come. Some providers, who were huge in the past are paying or have paid the price for their just plain, thoughtless, stupid actions that they justify through their own regulatory, lack of forethought, internal regulations book. Instead of seeing behind the violation to the what, why, who, when and where, they just made a blind decision and that's that, or so they think. It may take time, but Patterns and Practices can live on to haunt, long after they are finally changed.
A company I worked for a few years back told plaintiff's counsel that the policy they wrote was only good for $1,000,000 and they wouldn't pay anymore than that, ever! Even looking down the barrel of the so-called loaded gun they would not change their minds, despite the fact that they could have settled for $2,000,000. Ultimately the verdict was in excess of $15,000,000 and they were forced by the way the matter was handled into a position of probably owing the whole amount. That company is no longer in business some 7 years later. Gee, you think?
I don't wish anyone any malice, but Facebook ought to be more concerned than their standard "We will review it and get back to you" response. Personally I respect Joel even more now after I see the gentlemanly way he handled this.
Good luck to you Joel.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Kaeli — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:01:34 -0000

My account was also recently disabled for messaging too much, or too often, or something similar. The most annoying things about it are;

a. I checked the terms of service and there's nothing about too much messaging- only about advertising, spamming, and inappropriate material.
b. There's no mention anywhere of how much is too much messaging, apparently they can't tell us 'for security reasons', or so I was told when I wrote to ask.

The jailing idea is certainly a good one. At the very least, they could do what some other sites do, to enforce their apparent frequency limit on messaging- if someone's messaging too much, inform that person that there's a certain amount of time to be waited between messages, and tell them they have so-and-so seconds left before they can send another message.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Isabell — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:54:29 -0000

I have a Facebook page, but never did much with it because of this possibility hanging out there. Have heard about it for awhile and I don't want to give my info to a company whose customer service sucks.

When the "better than Facebook" alternative comes along and offers actual customer care - I'm in, and I'd even pay a bit each month for it. I'm done spending countless hours over months developing something that someone else (who I cannot even talk to one to one) could just erase my data from exisstence -- errrrr.

- Signed "Not a Facebook or a MySpace fan"

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Trev — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:13:27 -0000

1: Just because Joel Comm has been an Internet Marketer for years does not mean he is not a spammer. Ask yourself this. Why has Joel got 5000 friends? What is his main purpose for doing so? It all comes down to one thing - trying to sell more stuff.

2: Joel Comm has not met everyone on his list. His list would be made up of many people whom he has never met and never has the intention of meeting. Facebook was created as a social network where friends and family can stay connected. Joel is using it predominantly as a business tool - this is not its intended purpose and he has found that out the hard way.

3: There is no point whinging about having an account banned. Millions of people use Facebook everyday the way it was intended to be used and never have any problems. If your account has been banned them clearly you have not been using Facebook the way it was intended - for connecting with family and friends - NOT marketing your business.

4: I applaud Facebook for trying to get rid of people who use the system for business purposes only. We get enough spam in our email and it seems we can't go anywhere without having sales message shoved down our throat. Facebook should be somewhere people can go without having to be subjected to this same old rubbish.

5: You ask where Facebook will be in five years time if they keep deleting people's accounts who they think are abusing the system? Well where do you think Facebook will be in 5 years if they don't put a stop to this idea of using facebook as a business tool? People will get fed up and go somewhere else. I think they are making the smart choice - you don't just because your account was deleted.

6: Knowing Joel, chances are he deleted his own account in an attempt to get some more free publicity. Has he got a product launch coming up? I wouldn't be suprised....

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Ann — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:12:55 -0000

That is incredible, shows the inhumanism of these BIG sites.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

James — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:15:21 -0000

Anyone that has anyone on their friend list they haven't met in real life is a loser IMO

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Yair — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:50:11 -0000

you're so right. It is unbelivable that facebook will kick someone at all

globalmedicalbook.com

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Christopher Golda — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:49:35 -0000

@Mike Ashworth: BackType fully supports this blog; your comment is available on the site now

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Warren — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:48:51 -0000

The ONE thing you gotta remember about Facebook is that it's run by a bunch of 25 year old kids. That one fact is all that is needed to understand why they do the idiotic things that they do... ie: erasing people's accounts erroneously, having a terrible user interface that is completely illogical (and people seem to ignore this, most likely because their closest competitor is MySpace's UI, aka Geocities), having a horrible API that is both poorly written and documented, having all those ridiculous issues with privacy, etc etc.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Ed Daniel — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:04:38 -0000

Hi Robert,

I just feel the whole social networking thing is 'broken' by design - it encourages a siloed approach to data federation and syndication and most of all, it puts immense power in the hands of a few individuals.

I first noticed this flaw during my participation in other social networks (precursors to 'book) - especially when witnessing the "community vs. Ecademy" debacle at the beginning of this decade that spurred what has since been known as the "night of the long knives" when one of the directors and general goodwill ambassadors ran roughshod over the account system and banned many members for speaking out against site policy. This same social network also took a few other decisions that made many leave - there was a horrible stench of group think everywhere and people were in 'fear' of speaking out about site policy should they get banned for expressing their opinions.

This decade has been the most successful yet in showing how community-led systems can rival traditional commercial models. I continue to hope that as Facebook and other SNs continue to promote the benefit of adopting these tools there will reach a critical mass that puts weight behind the initiatives such as data portability, ownership and identity.

If SNs such as Facebook continue to struggle with these challenges then fragmentation will be further encouraged and contribute to this momentum, the sooner the better I believe - today's SNs are already looking dated and boring - tomorrow's SN will be just another application layer on top of today's well-known tools and devices.

In January 2008 I was exploring methods and means to achieve this, as are many others - hopefully one day a peer to peer social network will exist that will make these ventures superfluous and remove their monopolistic power over crowd-sourcing.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

michaelashworth — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:25:33 -0000

They already have the features you mention. they can disable just messaging and leave other functions intact.

I must conclude that their action was not as a result of just the amount of messaging. Perhaps he broke some other unpublished rules.

Your summing up is correct. If he is not happy with Facebook, he shouldn't use it. However, millions of ordinary people (not the early adopters like your good self) are perfectly happy with Facebook.

When my messaging was suspended I wrote about it and then I got in touch with the Company that looks after the PR For Facebook in the UK and you knwo what, within 24 hours I had my account back. No threats, no holier than thou attitude. I kindly asked for access back and I received it. It's amazing what a bit of politeness (and not threats) can do when required.

btw, did you know that your blog is not supported by backtype :-(

Mike Ashworth

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Terra Andersen — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:15:11 -0000

The outright deletion of profiles and information on Facebook is obscene, considering most of their "spam detectors" are automatic and are not humans actually looking into the matter.

I do believe that the very people who drive Facebook to be the powerhouse that it is, should be treated with respect and as individuals... not instant spammers because of one or two "spam alerts" they receive from a non-human source.

"Jailing" accounts is a great idea, and it would be very wise of Facebook to implement something like this.

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

Chris Bucchere — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:40:04 -0000

Interesting and thought-provoking article, Robert!

In defense of you, Joel and countless others who have been suspended or removed from Facebook, it certainly doesn't seem like you're being treated fairly. It's hard to imagine that someone with 5,000 confirmed Facebook friends and ten times as many followers on Twitter could be considered a spambot. Generally speaking, online communities, wikis, social networks, etc. have a way of policing themselves; content that other people enjoy gets shared and promoted while spam and other "noise" gets blocked or ignored. Facebook and other social sites would all be best-served by this sort of grassroots self-policing, rather than a top-down approach.

However, there's a subtle point to which some other readers have alluded in the comments. You wrote, "I don’t support companies that 'erase' MY data without my permission." What you may not realize is that based on Facebook's TOS (http://www.facebook.com/ter..., what you think are "your data" actually are not "your data," not by a long shot, not once you've posted them on Facebook.

If you think there are safer or better places than Facebook to put "your data" on the internet, you're also mistaken. Take a peek at Google's TOS (http://www.google.com/accou.... In particular, read section 11, where you hand over all rights to "your" content to them (except basic copyright, which you automatically have any time you produce an original work and put your name on it). You're basically giving Google a free license to use your content -- even for their own commercial gain!

Everyone knows that there's no such thing as a free lunch. In return for providing "free" distribution of "your" content, companies like Facebook, Google and the likes are creating massive databases of incredibly valuable "information capital." This in turn allows them to offer you a "free" service while they sell this information capital -- the stuff you gave them, remember? -- to advertisers. That pays their bills, which in turn allows them to continue to give you "free" content distribution.

Average people (who upload videos of dogs on skateboards, etc. to Facebook) don't care about data ownership and are perfectly happy to hand the rights to their content over to Facebook or Google it order to share it more easily with their friends. Average people -- however -- aren't one man media outlets, either, but YOU are. So, being an internet/social media mogul, I'm sure you understand that content distribution isn't free.

The solution? Host your content yourself! People like you and Joel have the resources to pay for your own hosting AND you have loyal audiences that will follow you wherever you go. You can leverage social media to help the viral spread of your content, but the obvious goal of your participation in social media and social networking should be to drive eyeballs/click-throughs back to YOUR site so people can view YOUR content, ensuring that YOUR advertisers get bang for their buck.

It really all boils down to two old sayings: there's no such thing as a free lunch and you get what you pay for. Want to pay for your own hosting and distribution? Then you can own your own content. Want to get free distribution from Facebook or Google? Then be prepared to give them something in return.

http://twitter.com/bucchere

Re: Facebook screws iFart author

aplink — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:35:19 -0000

@daniel

word of mouth built facebook not me or you as individuals but collectively facebook users did... facebooks growing population was and is fueled by people verbally talking abut it and connecting online. facebook is earning advertising revenues based on global word of mouth - it would not have employees and share holders without people chatter or a platform that people want to be a part of and use - i have yet to see any advertising spend by facebook to get people engaged like other businesses do - it is the people who do the advertising for facebook and some of these people get banned unfortunately.