Are you sure you want to deactivate your account? Your friends will no longer be able to contact you.
Above is a screengrab from when I deactivated my second account with Facebook. It reminds me, metaphorically speaking, of a sad puppy dog face mournfully pleading Please don't go. Notice the names of my contacts followed by the "will miss you" part? Cheap trick and more than a little hilarious in a pathetic sort of way. I think my "friends" will do just fine without me, thank you very much. It's not like I had time to build any sort of rapport with them. Besides, I'm not that hard to find. Hidden in plain view actually.My first account, which I'd nurtured for 3 weeks, was disabled without notice or warning. I lost all of my contacts - 104 names to be precise - without any means of retrieving them. Singers, actors, models, business people....all gone. I wanted to bring people over to my site, Miss Delite, and I was achieving that until Facebook pulled the plug.
Upset as I was at how quickly and easily my efforts were flushed down the crapper, I put up another account and started again - until yesterday - I had a moment of clarity. I thought to myself You know what? This is too much work for too little reward. What if Facebook disables my account again? What then???
So I cancelled it.
Seriously though, Facebook and I made strange bedfellows. The entire set up - while efficient and extensive - is extremely straitlaced. Even the hookers are wholesome. If I want to hang out with the Ozzie and Harriet crowd, I'll... well, I'll shoot myself because clearly that's not something I'd ever want to do. I'm not a child and I've no desire to be one or be treated like one.
It's not like I posted anything offensive on my profile. Mostly it had pics of models and music videos. There were a couple of nudes, and I vaguely recalled a No nudity clause, but I thought it was okay to post them only after I'd seen much worse on other profiles, as in pierced genitalia and shaved ass holes. My nudes were tasteful. Art gallery quality rather than pornographic in nature.
But that's Facebook for you: Disneyland for adults. Let's all pretend we're 4-year-olds and that sex doesn't really exist, shall we?
Nauseating.
After all of that, I got an email today from "Fred" in response to my query as to what prompted their decision to piss on my parade. I'm surprised he even bothered; customer service agents are notoriously elusive. Of course, in a capacity typical of robotic officials, the It's-our-way-or-the-highway tone of his email rubbed me the wrong way. He also alluded to some bogus claims without bothering to back them up or solicit my side of the story. It's all very vague and obtuse. Naturally, I had to respond.
Forthwith, our exchange:
Hi facebook,
If I posted material that was offensive to anyone, I would have happily removed it.
I was building interest in my site, http://www.missdelite.com/.
By disabling my account without warning caused me to lose all of my contacts. This hardly seems fair.
I kindly ask that you reconsider your decision.
Thanks for your consideration,
Tia
Hi Tia,
After reviewing your situation, we have determined that you violated our Terms of Use. Please note that nudity and other sexually explicit content is not allowed on the site. Additionally, we do not allow users to send messages that are sexually suggestive, or that other users may find harassing in nature. We will not be able to reactivate your account for any reason. This decision is final.
Thanks for your understanding,
Fred
User Operations
Fred,
No, I don't understand.
As to the nudity, yes I posted 2 pictures with nudity, which I thought were ok because I saw much worse on other profiles. Pierced genitalia and shaved ass holes come to mind. If you're truly serious about cracking down on lewd images, you will investigate what the BDSM and fetish communities are posting on their profiles.
Besides, why couldn't someone have informed me of the "offense" and requested I remove the pictures? I would have done so without question or arguement. Is it not your standard procedure to at least give a warning?
As for sexually suggestive messages, I have no idea what you're referring to. The only thing I can think of is that sometimes I would write "hi cutie" in my request form. Did someone complain about that? How ridiculous.
And as for charges of harassment, this goes beyond reasoning. I harassed no one. If someone refused a friendship request, I left it at that and did not pursue it. I exchanged friendly messages and postings with a few people but nothing contentious or upsetting. If someone has accused me of harassing them then they are lying.
My theory is that you probably got a complaint about my profile after I'd removed several names and changed it to private, but since you're not open to discussing the matter with me, I can only surmise this.
As for me, I walk away from my Facebook experience extremely disappointed and more than a little ticked off. I think your team handled my case poorly and I will not be coming back.
One ex-Facebook fan (and I'm sure there are many),
Tia
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[Jul.25-09]
Soooo....I reactivated my account.
*shrug*
What can I say? Facebook is a valuable resource and just because I was the victim of overzealous censors, it doesn't mean I have to give up the opportunity to connect with interesting people, right?
Right.
Besides, where else am I going to "become a fan" of Original Taint?
Well, they're not on Facebook (too explicit I guess) but they're the whole reason I came back!
(Now that I hear their shit though, umm...they're different.)
