Oh, Facebook...

Suspended For What?

Something happened this past Friday that sent me into a tailspin. Facebook permanently suspended my account. The account that I have used for twelve years without any major issues. Yes, I've done a couple of short stints in Facebook Jail, but who hasn't?

Apparently, I violated someone's "trademark rights" and "intellectual property." That's all I know. Facebook didn't provide any details as to what exactly I did or who I did it to.

As a writer and former professional photographer, I am keenly aware of trademarks, copyright, and intellectual property laws and regulations, and I take great precautions to protect my own work. There is no way I would knowingly violate someone else's. Could it have been the YouTube videos or the two ten-second clips from a Corey Feldman concert that I recently posted? The world may never know as Facebook has no customer service department, and the email addresses afforded me to complain to have regurgitated no response. Did I mention I never got any warnings or any notices that I was violating the rules?

Honestly, I can live without without Facebook. We all could. That's not to say it won't cause some issues.

• I had photos of my family, vacations, road trips, holidays, milestones, and memorable events stored on Facebook. Now, I'm sure that those photos are still stored somewhere on some hard drive in some box somewhere. For all practical purposes, these are gone.

• What about the people who I went to school with, served alongside in the Marines, worked with at some point, or simply met online? I'm sure that I can reconnect with some of them, maybe even most of them. What about those I can't? These are gone.

• What of the business pages that I operated through that account? One for my restaurant, "Big Jack's Cafe," and one for my writing, "Eric Grate - Writer"? I can no longer access those. (thankfully, my daughters can still access the restaurant page. The writer's page, though, although it's still visible, I can't get to it.) These are gone.

• What of the group that I started for the Marines that I served with back in the eighties, Delta Battery, Second Battalion, Tenth Marines? I can no longer access it. This is gone.

• I have subscriptions to other websites that I joined through Facebook. These are gone.

This leads me to ask the question: is it wise to allow an entity like Facebook to have so much control over our lives? The answer is no. How much time did I waste there, reading political rants and watching stupid videos of stupid people doing stupid things? How much time did I waste posting pictures of my lunch and checking in every time I went on vacation? The answer is too damn much! Now, it is not to say that everything about Facebook is terrible. Staying in touch with people you care about, posting an occasional photo of a great pizza, looking at photos of your grandkids, supporting a local business, or sharing an occasional snapshot of your life. All good things if done in moderation.

Saying all that, I have created a new account. I'll use it sometimes to show you my lunch or tell you I'm on a road trip somewhere, and I'll still love looking at photos of my grandkids and sharing the happy moments that my friends share. What I won't do is allow it to control my life. Not even one tiny bit of it.

Folks, I encourage you to evaluate how you use Facebook. Does it have too much power in your life? If it does, find ways to cut the strings. Especially business owners. I have learned my lesson about giving so much control over my businesses to an entity that doesn't care if I succeed or fail. I have already started looking for ways to increase my presence on other platforms (this website is one of them) in an effort to reduce Facebook's influence on my fortunes.

Google it, and you'll find that I'm not the first person who has had their account inexplicably banned by Facebook. I highly doubt I will be the last, either. You could be next!

Oh, I should probably mention I have started a new Facebook page to promote my writing, including my upcoming book, "The Streets Of Greenfield. Here is a link to it. https://www.facebook.com/EricGrateAuthor. I encourage you to follow it. Just don't spend all your time there. :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Please comment and share with your friends!