Wednesday, September 01, 2010

FaceBook problems

You never think much about it until it happens to you.

I have been prevented from sharing anything meaningful by Facebook.
My Facebook name is "Giuseppe Gori". There is nothing hidden or false in my profile.

I have never used any irreverent word, far less curse words. I can understand limiting the use of obnoxious or hateful speech, but obviously their algorithm flags more than that.

No I do not have "problems", Facebook does.

The Facebook problem is that they are limiting the free speech of people who are not politically correct according to them, based on the use of certain words or links to certain non PC web pages. This limit on free speech apparently applies to conservatives.

I consider myself as a centrist, reasonable, constitutional, conservative, Christian and do not like tyrannies of the right or of the left. I have been in public life and written essays for many years.

In my opinion, Facebook is not a reliable means for sharing information.
I would like to warn organizers, bloggers and political activists NOT to rely on Facebook as a means of serious exchange of information.

Once you are identified and put on a special list, they can stop you from using the network of friends you have so painfully established.

It is their prerogative to do so. They can choose to be as hostile to conservatives as they want. It is their domain name you are using.

However, you need to know what you are getting into.
If you still have that freedom, please let your Facebook friends know.

Perhaps there are more reliable alternatives that are dedicated to free speech.
If you know of one, please let me know.

2 comments:

Suzanne said...

Can you elaborate about the way in which they block you from sharing?

Giuseppe said...

1. It seems that any one person flagging a comment/message causes a "block". This can be temporary, but there is no guarantee.
Thus, for political purposes you are bound to find s/one who will block you just to make you less efficient.
2. There is a limit on the number of msgs you can send (20). If you create mailing lists of 20 friends each, then you hit the limit of 100 lists (2000). Extra lists are automatically deleted.
3. In some cases FB has deleted the whole account w/o notice.