[shadowfax]

I opened a facebook account yesterday with a view to connecting it to my new youtube account and maybe getting a few more listeners...
anyway, today I'm told my Facebook account is disabled because it does not comply with community standards, this ( I think ) is techno speak for
 you haven't given us real information we can steal and sell to make more money

this is presumably because I didn't tell them my real age and didn't give my actual address, or is it? does anyone know what it's all about?
how would they know my address is wrong for instance, maybe something to do with IP address?

I know peeps do give real and actual info on facebook (which I think is crazy)
I clicked on a link to ask for a review why the account was disabled and they promptly asked me for my phone number...which I wont be doing, so looks like I will not be having a facebook account then..oh well

[cowparsleyman]

@shadowfax - nope don’t want it don’t need it...i try and talk with folk. My songs aint going to make a lot of wallop with or without FB.

Privacy is a golden thing, ask anyone that’s A celebrity.

[shadowfax]

reckon your right @cowparsleyman that's why I wont be taking it any further..

[Sterix]

I have two Facebook accounts. One personal and one for Sterix the "artist". I don't really use either much these days, not as much as I used to.

[shadowfax]

Did you give your real info when signing up? @Sterix

[Sterix]

For myself, yes. But then I'm comfortable with people knowing the information that's on there (my age, town where I'm from, etc).

My privacy settings are medium (friends of friends can see posts, etc) but you can lock that down tighter if you want. So, age for example; you can set who can see that - including only yourself (although that wouldn't stop someone who knows that info from publishing it whether you have a FB account or not).

Like I said, I'm comfortable with it. I don't reveal anything a person with ill intent couldn't find elsewhere on the internet (or elsewhere).

The biggest problem with sites like Facebook isn't always what you tell them but what you reveal to the world in general (or other people reveal about you). Things like "looking forward to my 2 week vacation in Spain tomorrow", which is a great advertisment for local crooks to chase down your address (and they don't need Facebook for that) and pay you a visit while they know you're away.

Similarly, "teen son having a quiet get together for a few friends tomorrow night while the missus and I out to celebrate our aniversary" is a recipe to you coming home from said celebration to find 200 drunk and drugged up teenagers rampaging through your house, puking up everywhere, and a couple of dozen riot police smashing through the front door for good measure...

That message about the community standards is more likely to be about how you use the account. If FB thinks you've set up a personal page but using it for selling stuff, for example, you'd get that message and be temporaily blocked from posting. So it's not so much it thinks you've provided false information as it thinks you're there under false pretenses.

[shadowfax]

Thanks for the reply and info @Sterix ..guess I wont actually be having a Facebook account by the looks of it..LOL

[CaliaMoko]

I do have a Facebook account and I did provide my real information, because--as Sterix said--that information is readily available in a multitude of places. I do have my Facebook privacy set--I forget--probably moderately high.

My primary reason for Facebook, though, isn't music. Because so many people use it, Facebook is a convenient venue for planning reunions (family, class, and others), and I use it mainly for communication with private groups for news (births, deaths, marriages, divorces, graduations, travel plans, and whatever else people can think of) and reunion planning. I manage three family groups and one other social type group (of people who were part of a college-prep program for disadvantaged 10th-grade students in 1966 through 1968 and who bonded with each other and like to keep in touch...and have reunions).

I do have a music page, as well. I figure I might as well since I have an account anyway. I don't market much on it, though, so it doesn't result in much activity. But a little.

I think Facebook is fine for the way I use it, as long as I pay attention to its shortcomings. Nothing is perfect. For music, I use BandCamp and SoundCloud mainly. And CD Baby for distribution.

[Boydie]

@shadowfax

This is the age old marketing trick - if the product is free, then YOU are the product

Facebook relies on advertising income and the great/scary thing about Facebook is the ability to target advertising so effectively

Of course, to be able to do this they need lots of information about you

This is quite ironic for those wanting to use Facebook to promote their music (get a few more listeners) or sell products as you will WANT this info

Eg for arguments sake let’s say you have a great album ala Dire Straits that you think would appeal to middle aged men who also like gardening and you want to increase your gigging audience so only want to target people within a 20mile radius (a bit random)

Facebook allows you to do this - but only based on the info users provide (or that Facebook “gathers” from you over time)

I know you have not mentioned advertising specifically but anyone serious about promoting themselves on Facebook would need to invest in some advertising - in which case the info gathered and specific targeting is invaluable

It really is a double edged sword!

[shadowfax]

Thanks for the answers guys..Facebook is defo a gonner in my book...