Facebook has become a bunch of ignorant d*cks lately, and the missing letter is not “u.” I’ve had enough.
I awoke Wednesday to find that my FB account had been locked out – I couldn’t sign in until I prove that I am who I say. Right: like who thinks I’m not actually what my Facebook page has always said, “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart?
Then that night, talking to my wife, I discovered (see image) that my whole Facebook page has been taken down, until I stop this fraud and prove I’m really the guy who calls himself “e-Patient Dave”!
You see, since last year Facebook has been running this giant anti-fraud, anti-bullying project called their “real names” policy. Noble idea, but it’s so poorly implemented that there’s a Wikipedia page about it, including this:
The controversy stems from a policy that those who have been adversely affected describe as penalizing users who are in fact using their real names which Facebook has nevertheless deemed to be “fake”, while simultaneously allowing anyone to create fake yet plausible-sounding names, as well as obviously implausible-sounding names comprising word combinations that Facebook’s software fails to recognize as unlikely to be real.
Why? For my own good, of course – the last refuge of “we don’t have to tell you” brush-offs. Here’s a clip from the verification page they now send me to:
Backfire. In 2014 they got in a lot of trouble, and had to back off, because (for instance) some people do NOT use their real names, specifically TO protect themselves against abuse or other consequences. (More on this in the links below.)
Back then they told me I had to use my real name – stop using “e-Patient Dave.” I grumbled but changed it. Except guess what? These geniuses decided that all surnames obviously start with a capital letter – which my real name doesn’t – so when I changed the first name, it wrongly capitalized the last name (deBronkart) to DeBronkart!
Yes, the know-it-all Facebook “authentic name” software insists on not letting me use my authentic (spelled properly) name.
And they won’t fix it. Won’t even respond to my multiple support messages about it. Every time I’ve sent a support request, weeks later they’ve sent another “Thank you for your feedback. You’re so important to us” crapmail. A classic disrespectful, passive-aggressive “you can’t make me talk to you” brushoff.
D*cks. And all for my own good.
I know Facebook is famous for running “social experiments” to see what people do when they’re jerked around. Well, I’ve had it. Screw ’em. It would be one thing if they had integrity and if they were competent about their policy and their software.
The final farce
The real irony is that a month ago there was a big flurry of publicity about an announcement that they’re fixing the issue. Some of the coverage:
- The Guardian: Facebook relaxes ‘real name’ policy in face of protest
… While Facebook does not require the use of “legal names” on the site, it does demand that users identify with the name that other people know them by.
Well, that would be “e-Patient Dave.”
Facebook is making two primary changes. First, the site will now allow users to provide additional context and explanation for using the name they do when confirming their accounts.
Er, um, the lockout / sign-in page shows no such possibility. See graphic at right from the verify page. (Or am I missing something??)
“We want to reduce the number of people who are asked to verify their name on Facebook, when they are already using the name people know them by,” [FB VP of growth] Schultz wrote. “We want to make it easier for people to confirm their name if necessary.” Now, Facebook says it may give users the opportunity to write to Facebook’s Community Operations team to explain their name choice.
No such offer came to me. And, btw, I am using the name people know me by. No fraud here, boys.
How do I reach the Community Operations team? Googling only shows me many HR ads for openings – not how to reach them. Nor does searching the FB help page.
You can google for more such articles.
Anyway, no, I’m not going to a bunch of extra trouble just because Facebook’s geniuses (or robots) have decided I’m not the person known as e-Patient Dave … the same geniuses (or robots) who don’t know that some names start with a lowercase letter. Screw you, FB; I can live without you. Come back when you grow up.
Readers are encouraged to share this post onto their own Facebook pages.
I have a friend who recently said Facebook was going to block her out. But Brecheese is still there. The answer is that you’re the product, not the consumer. Products don’t get customer super. I will miss you there!
commenting in order to check the checkbox to receive new post notification ;)
Well *I* for one am sorry to see you go. Silly gits, have they never heard of European spellings of things? Sheesh.
I’m happy to be there but not happy to do the absurd work to please their malbrained robots.
And it’s disgusting that they were so draconian – no “You have 5 days” or anything. Just our skirmish many months ago, which as far as I knew was resolved.
Share this on my personal profile and will cross-post to my page. FWIW “ePatient Dave” immediately and automagically populated when I typed in your name.
Thanks, Meredith, but what did you see for me when it auto-populated?
FWIW, yesterday I entered e-Patient Dave deBronkart and it took me to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-deBronkart/113672048682099, which populated with data from Wikipedia and includes a sidebar: This Page is automatically generated based on what Facebook users are interested in, and not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with the topic. See More.
Today e-Patient etc fails to find any entry but interestingly Dave deBronkart came up instead (!) and took me to the same page.
Thanks, Bart. Yes, FB generated that page (which is fine – Wikipedia is Creative Commons) and of course didn’t bother to mention it to me.
Oh bleepola! Will miss you lots there for all kinds of reasons, hate this kind of mindless blind bureacracy, and feel even more irked on your behalf because it DID seem it was finally solved. (Of course, you know your true “offense” might have been using a lower case letter at the front of a proper noun in both versions (no grin)
I’m not a fan of the “real name” policy because I agree that there are all sorts of good reasons for people to use pseudonyms. However, there are a couple of inaccuracies in your article. The screen that says “Sorry, this content isn’t available right now” is a current problem that has nothing to do with the challenge for you to prove your name; it’s affecting all sorts of people. And the announcement that Facebook was going to relax the rules about names stated that it will change “sometime in December”. In other words, the changes have not yet happened. I’m skeptical that the changes will make much difference, but I might be pleasantly surprised.
Oddly enough, I stood up to them on that issue. All they want is to get personal data for their ad people to feed off.
How did you “stand up to them”? They didn’t even give me anyone to contact. And what happened when you did – did they say “Oh, okay” or “get lost”?
Dave,
The important thing is that you get your ideas out there… to us, your hungry friends and audience; to others who can influence policy and information dissemination. That your name is associated with your thoughts is important.
FaceBook is an imperfect medium for your measage. Always has been, possibly always will be.
Your challenge now is not to win a pissing contest with the young and incontinent staffers of FB. That one, you cannot win.
It is instead to work out a more effective strategy for getting your words and ideas out where they can be seen and picked up.
Stay in touch.
Godspeed,
Beekeeper
Unbelievable. I tweeted at them but of course heard nothing. You are certainly not alone — here’s one fellow sufferer, and what he did. http://www.n3rdabl3.co.uk/2015/11/17/144609/facebook-stole-name-i-got-back/
When they create the pages for public figures they scrape from Wikipedia they don’t ever notify the individuals that the page is about.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-deBronkart/113672048682099
The irony is that they spelled your last name correctly there! How ridiculous that they insist you verify your identity for your personal page, yet the page they automatically publish has your name (and correctly spelled).
Hi Brian – great to hear from you!
Thanks for pointing out that irony – when push comes to shove with them I may ask if it’s sufficient validation to submit MY OWN PUBLIC PERSON PAGE from Facebook itself. HA!