Why was Shelley banned? Well, it’s because she has a big mouth. Who knew!?
As we all know, things can quickly get out of hand on Facebook. Anywhere on the internet, actually. The situation that took place last week was crazy and spun quickly out of control.
Someone tagged me in a post on a Facebook page stating they were against gun violence. Surprisingly, just about everyone is against gun violence. Any kind of violence. Even pro-gunners are against gun violence. Someone tagged me because they were feeling ganged up on because they’re somewhat new to the “gun” fight. (No pun intended.) When people do that, tag me, they don’t do it so I’ll come fight their fight. They do it so I can help support them or fill in the holes that they may leave.
I said my piece, I did what I could. I saw other pictures on the page as well. I made a comment or two and left. I wasn’t there to pick a fight. I was there to offer support. The next day, the page – or admin of the page – kept tagging me (and others) on posts so we’d get notifications and come back over. I ignored quite a few of them, but it was a bit harder to ignore when people started dragging me through the mud. Most know that my motto is “I don’t start it, but I will finish it.” Finishing it was proving difficult when the thread would die off only to be dragged back in by the admin. I decided I would make one last post and forget it. After all, trying to talk to people who won’t listen to reason is much like trying to teach a pig to sing. It frustrates you and annoys the pig.
So, I left a comment that was a stanza or two from the song “Who gave you the Right?” and called it a night. The next day I logged into Facebook and got a notice someone had commented on the post. I’d forgotten to unfollow, so I went over to the page to “unfollow” the post. When I did, I saw this comment.
I removed our names from the picture above. The first sentence said “Shelley if you have children or plan to in the future I hope you lose one to a maniac with a gun…” It goes on to insult me. No real surprise, but I was very shocked by the first sentence. I was amazed that someone who (supposedly) opposes gun violence ‘hoped’ such a thing. I replied, nicely, explaining that as sad and as horrible as that would be, it would not change my opinion of guns. Afterward, I posted the link and this screenshot of my screen on my wall and asked my friends if they would report the comment to Facebook. Eventually, the lady who posted it deleted it.
Some people commented on it as well. I don’t recall anyone being mean, but I could be wrong. Later, after the comment was gone but the screenshot remained, several people were asking who it was that “liked” the comment and were flabbergasted why someone would like it. So many kept asking, I posted an update stating the name of the lady who had liked the status and explained it was the same lady who, the night before, had said that her children’s lives were more important than mine’s.
That comment was reported and Facebook banned me. When I got up the next day and tried to log into Facebook, I couldn’t. I tried to log in with my phone. The pictures below show (in order) what came up on my phone when I tried to log in.
So, after all that – those notices – the next thing that popped up after I hit “Continue” was this. This, I assumed was an explanation of the 30 day ban. Though, the next screen makes it a bit unclear.
So, I was blocked for 30 days for violating Facebook’s terms. Which ones? No clue. The above comment got me banned for three days, so I really don’t know what the 30 days are for. Not specifically.
And this, in particular, is kind of stupid. I’m blocked, but my account is still there and active. My profile is public. That means that my profile can still be posted on and commented on by anyone and everyone – but there is nothing I can do about it. I can’t stop it. I can’t report it.
For three days, whenever I would try to like, comment or reply to an email – a little window would pop up and say I was blocked from commenting, posting or liking on Facebook. Then it would say you have x days and x hours before you can post again. So, after it counted all the way down and I knew it was after the 3 full days, I tried to “like” something. When I did, or do, I get this message:
So. I’m temporarily blocked because I “may” have violated terms. Then it gives you a convenient “Contact Us” link. When you click it you get a form where you can contact Facebook. When you push send, it says that your message was sent and although they ‘try’ to read them all, they do not reply to them. Basically they’re saying “That was there just to make you feel better. Ha Ha Sucker!”
The thing is that I know I’m not blameless. I know I shouldn’t have posted the lady’s name. I shouldn’t have posted it, even though anyone clicking the link that showed in their “ticker” window would know the name of the lady because they could see it. She went back on the thread later and said “I dare anyone to show a post where I ever wished Shelley’s kids were killed” Well, she was right. She never did – but she “liked” a comment that said it and that’s the same thing. When she said that, people started emailing her. Again, I’m saying I was wrong to share the lady’s name.
The thing I don’t get, though, is why neither of those two ladies were reprimanded. See, it’s my opinion that anyone that would “hope” someone’s children dead should be banned from Facebook. That is absolutely ridiculous. I fail to see how my saying the name of a lady who made a nasty post is any different than someone seeing the name of the lady on the post. This is the internet. When you say something like that – it is forever associated with your name. Just as above. The lady deleted her comment, but I took a screenshot before she did. It’s there. She can’t say she didn’t say it. But because she removed her comment before Facebook saw it, she gets off scott free. This makes no sense.
it’s a sign of the times. It’s a condition of the world in which we live. For some reason or other, it’s completely wrong to be pro gun. It’s right to be anti-gun and against gun violence, but perfectly fine wishing the death of someone’s children. It’s a sad state of the world.
As for pointing any of this out to Facebook. It’s useless. You’d have a better chance at jumping in a pool of water and coming out dry than you would trying to contact, speak to, explain or contest anything to Facebook.
I don’t really know if this ban is 30 days, more than 30 or less. I also don’t really care. Frankly, I’m sick of Facebook. It’s a crazy train and I don’t want to ride it anymore.
