{"id":6581,"date":"2021-12-28T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidwithington.com\/?p=6581"},"modified":"2021-12-28T11:15:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T11:15:12","slug":"why-business-never-rely-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidwithington.com\/why-business-never-rely-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a Facebook Ban Harm Your Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Can<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook’s stark warning came suddenly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unexpectedly. Completely out of the blue.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were threatening to restrict my account<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Facbook<\/a>
Facebook had given me an account warning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

How Had I Offended Facebook?<\/span><\/h2>\n

What had I done wrong? <\/span><\/p>\n

What was the violation <\/strong>I’d been accused of?<\/span><\/p>\n

Were all those years of work about to be deleted<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s actually been known to happen to people. No discussion, no negotiation. Their accounts were simply deleted! <\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the Facebook rules you agree to.<\/span><\/p>\n

All my 58 pages and 20 groups, representing years of dedicated work, could be gone in a keyboard stroke<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

By the decision of an uncontactable Facebook employee sitting at their desk in a distant country.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My Facebook account could be gone in a keystroke<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My heart pounded. <\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t actually own some of those groups – I’d volunteered to help administer them. So other people could also be affected by this!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why Has Facebook Given Me This Warning?<\/span><\/h2>\n

I went to investigate.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I discovered that Facebook claimed that my post didn’t follow their “Community Standards”. <\/span><\/p>\n

But why?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My post didn’t follow Facebook’s community standards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How had I broken the rule?<\/span><\/p>\n

I tracked down the offending post to one of my pages, and I read every word.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I double-checked it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I looked again with a fine-toothed comb.<\/span><\/p>\n

But try as I might, there was nothing that I could find which could make the post seem offensive or racist or rude – or anything which might upset any Facebook subscriber.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I concluded it must have been a mistake by Facebook’s algorithm.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I Challenged Facebook’s Decision<\/span><\/h2>\n

I was tempted to just accept Facebook’s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that would mean the warning would stay on my record – and it could go against me in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I appealed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I disagreed with the mighty Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
I disagreed with Facebook’s decision<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Facebook’s Verdict<\/span><\/h2>\n

So what happened next?<\/span><\/p>\n

Did they review my post?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, yes, they did.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then they restored it and apologised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My Facebook post was restored<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clearly, I’d done nothing wrong. Facebook had made an error. And thankfully they corrected it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But What If?<\/span><\/h2>\n

But what if they had still maintained their claim<\/strong> that I’d broke the Community Standards?<\/span><\/p>\n

And what if it happened again<\/strong>?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, I would lose complete access to my account.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then Facebook Blocked Me<\/span><\/h2>\n

11 months later, their algorithm once more decided I’d gone against their community standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, they gave no reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, again I took a good look to see what rule I could have broken, decided I hadn’t, and appealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this time, they didn’t take into consideration that last time was their error and they’d admitted to getting it wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nope. I got blocked.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Temporarily<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, I can’t post to any page or group.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s the message that pops up whenever I try.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Restricted<\/a><\/p>\n

“Ah!” you say. Just click the let us know<\/em> link.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I did. <\/span><\/p>\n

That goes to a generic information-collection form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You Can’t Contact Facebook<\/span><\/h2>\n

So I tried to contact Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n