08 April 2022

Facebook and Me

This is the story of my recent adventures on Facebook. A bit frustrating and irritating, I must say! But what can you do? Their sandbox, their rules.

I was first banned on Wednesday, 23 May. I was attempting to share a post titled 'Byzantine Thomism and the True Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue: “Breathing with Both Lungs”', when I got a message that said, 'Your message couldn't be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive'.

'Abusive'? I don't think so! I went to my 'Notifications' to find this message, 'You have been restricted from accessing some Facebook features. Go to your Support Inbox to learn more'. 

I went to my Support Inbox only to find that the last message I had received from Facebook was from last November when they had 'fact checked' a joke picture as 'lacking context'.

However, I did discover by trial and error that while I could post freely on my own Wall, I was unable to post or comment in any group that I did not own or moderate.

No actual explanation of why I was banned or any indication of how long the ban was. Since past experience had taught me that bans are usually 24 hours, three days, a week, or a month, I just tried posting each day.

That ban lasted for three days. On Saturday, I was able to post and comment on all the groups I belong to. That lasted just over 24 hours. On Sunday, the 27th, I was trying to share a post when I suddenly got the 'abusive' message again. Same drill. Nothing new in my Support Inbox, no indication of what was 'abusive' or of how long the ban was for.

Again, by trial and error, I discovered this past Monday that the ban had ended. I found this out just before midnight. I shared my 'devotional' posts, the Feast/Saint of the Day from In Lumine Fidei, and Cardinal Bacci's and Bishop Challoner's 'Meditations' with no problem. However, when I tried to share a post at 00.30, BAM! Same thing again! 'Abusive' post and nothing in my Support Inbox.

I have no idea how long this ban is for. Again, my past experience leads me to believe that it's either for a week or a month since they tend to increase as time goes on.

It is killing my reach. For the month of March, even being banned for three days, I had been averaging 1981 views per day. I was actually thinking that this month I might have an average of over 2K per day. Nope! As of right now, the average stands at 1391 and it's dropping a few points every day.

And, just to rub salt in the wound, every few hours I get another 'You have been restricted from accessing some Facebook features. Go to your Support Inbox to learn more' notification!

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