Social Media IQ: Some reasons Facebook will suspend an account
Some reasons Facebook will suspend an account
Just as a reminder here are some of the reasons a Facebook account can be suspended (thank you Thor Muller for your insights on this topic):
Firstly it's important to remember that Facebook prides itself in having a "spam free" environment and if their system picks up any behavior that is remotely suspicious account deactivation is a strong possibility. Facebook understandably remains intentionally vague about what "suspicious behavior" looks like, which is good as there will always be those that try to "game the system" To help avoid having your account disabled, here is a list of the most common reasons why an account can be abruptly turned off. Keep in mind, that this list is incomplete but will go a long way in helping you to get the spirit behind these.
1. You didn't use your real name
Don't try to use a nickname (or initials) instead of the name on your birth certificate. (The message is that this is a platform where you represent who you are in real-life)
2. You have more than one profile
Having two profiles is against Facebook's terms of service
3. You create a business account as a personal profile
Business accounts are allowed as public profiles not personal profiles (if you have questions about this please drop us an email and we will explain how to do this)
4. You joined too many groups
Remember that the maximum limit is 200 groups per user.
5. 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."
6. You posted in too many groups, too many user's walls
You may be axed for being too active in too many places. That's what spammers do.
7. You friended too many people
We would suggest that you not friend more than 20 people per day. It also seems a bit spammy if you do
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 as is posting excessive links to your site.
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.
10 . 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
Sometimes warnings are given and an individual will be given a 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 lodging an appeal with Facebook. But sometimes the suspension is permanent.
Firstly it's important to remember that Facebook prides itself in having a "spam free" environment and if their system picks up any behavior that is remotely suspicious account deactivation is a strong possibility. Facebook understandably remains intentionally vague about what "suspicious behavior" looks like, which is good as there will always be those that try to "game the system" To help avoid having your account disabled, here is a list of the most common reasons why an account can be abruptly turned off. Keep in mind, that this list is incomplete but will go a long way in helping you to get the spirit behind these.
1. You didn't use your real name
Don't try to use a nickname (or initials) instead of the name on your birth certificate. (The message is that this is a platform where you represent who you are in real-life)
2. You have more than one profile
Having two profiles is against Facebook's terms of service
3. You create a business account as a personal profile
Business accounts are allowed as public profiles not personal profiles (if you have questions about this please drop us an email and we will explain how to do this)
4. You joined too many groups
Remember that the maximum limit is 200 groups per user.
5. 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."
6. You posted in too many groups, too many user's walls
You may be axed for being too active in too many places. That's what spammers do.
7. You friended too many people
We would suggest that you not friend more than 20 people per day. It also seems a bit spammy if you do
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 as is posting excessive links to your site.
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.
10 . 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
Sometimes warnings are given and an individual will be given a 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 lodging an appeal with Facebook. But sometimes the suspension is permanent.