Losing face in "Social Media Networks" . . . could it be you?

Yesterday I was sadly disturbed by an e-mail from an industry friend/colleague David Vernon owner of Pampered Palette http://www.pamperedpalette.com/ and CAG Ambassador to the Decorative Painters Groups. www.iamthecag.com/cagambassadors.html

David awoke to the startling discovery that his facebook accounts had . . . disappeared. With close to 2,000 friends they were there when he went to bed, and gone when he woke up.

So what happened? Facebook has a set of protocols, of which most people who get their account terminated would never dream of violating on purpose. These were found on a site about getting disabled, but not an official facebook site. They indicated that perceived "spamming" is the number one reason. Spamming takes on a lot of odd characteristics. For example inviting too many people to join. Is there a set number? No, one group may invite 10,000 a day and have over a million members, while another may invite 25 people a day have maybe 200 friends, and they get shut down for over inviting (spamming). So bottom line . . . spam can be construed as about anything.

It doesn't appear that there is anything you can do to safeguard yourself, short of not connecting to facebook at all. . . and that would defeat the whole purpose of social media networking.

What to do . . . If you get shut down immediately contact facebook (by e-mail of course) and be persistent in follow up. This does not mean every five minutes like the little kid in the back seat saying, "Are we there yet?" But a daily e-mail requesting reason and verification would be logical.

In the mean time here is a simple way to monitor who you have as friends, and keep a database in case you have to reopen your group page.

Open your page: click on edit friends, click on friends (this creates an alphabetical list where you can delete or edit friends), start at top left corner of list, hold down (l) mouse button and drag to last person on list (all icons and names should now be highlighted), right click and hit copy on pop up menu, paste list into a word document, and save on your computer.

Depending on your computer savvy you can build a database or other resource tool of your friends. You will need to visit each friend to get an e-mail address if they provide one. But you can at least go back into facebook in the case of a lost site and re invite from their name.

Facebook is an awesome way for groups of ceramicists and artists to stay connected, share ideas, and make new friendships.

This blog is not to scare you away from facebook, but rather to educate you on being prepared. Facebook is a free resource, and we should be thankful for it. We would probably have less than 10% of the activity that facebook generated if people had to pay for it, because they wouldn't. It's sad when friends like David Vernon lose their site, but let it be an eye opener for the rest of us to be prepared. Yesterday the CAG completely backed up its info on facebook. It took a while, but now we are prepared.

OK, enough business talk, now get out your brushes, paints, and bisque and try some decorative painting techniques. Want some ideas, visit David Vernon at his blog at http://www.pamperedpaletteonline.blogspot.com/ . Besure to join his blog while you're there.