COMPLAINT FILED BY KHALID STRICKLAND a.k.a. BLACK PACINO
MySpace is the ghetto of social networks. It’s a lawless hive of scum and villainy like Las Vegas, down to the glittery flashing lights and half-naked chicks. Perfect for a guy like me. Despite its faults, I still have love for MySpace. That’s where I made my come up and held down a corner on the cyber-block. Over the years I built a solid following there through my crazy-ass blog, racking up 1,431 friends and 1,354 comments. I also made a lot of money, valuable contacts and good friends from around the globe.
Facebook, on the other hand, is the ritzy condo community surrounded by high gates. At the urging of my classy folk who were there enjoying fine wine, caviar and cheese, I left the grimy back-alleys of MySpace. Like The Jeffersons, Black Pacino moved on up to Facebook and finally got his piece of the pie.
For the next few months I built a deep contact list and made solid alliances on Facebook. A lot of The Spizzy’s views were siphoned in from Facebook and even at 3AM my page was a hotbed of activity. Although I wasn’t there nearly as much, I’d roll through my old hood at MySpace and kick it with my homies. But after a short visit, I’d hop in the back seat of my white limousine and head to the upper-crusty hills of Facebook, sipping Pinot Grigio and puffing a fat cigar all the way. Shit was sweet. My popularity was increasing and I was getting big. The Spizzy was clicking on all cylinders. The world was mine.
But like Tony Montana at the end of Scarface, little did I know that the hit squad was loading their guns and preparing to storm my mansion…
This past Friday night I got a slew of phone calls and text messages alerting me that my Facebook page had been deleted, unbeknown to me. Later, when I unsuccessfully tried to log into my account, a vague message popped up saying that Facebook disabled my profile. I received no prior warning, notification or anything. Rather than give me one good reason for wiping out valuable contacts and information that took me months to earn, the anonymous folks at Face-less-book gave me a chunk of text to read. Skim through this long-winded crock of shit and see if you can figure it…
“Your account was disabled because you violated Facebook’s Terms of Use, to which you agreed when you first registered for an account on the site. Accounts can either be disabled for repeat offenses or for one, particularly egregious violation.
Facebook does not allow users to register with fake names, to impersonate any person or entity, or to falsely state or otherwise misrepresent themselves or their affiliations.
We do not allow users to send unsolicited or harassing messages to people they don’t know, and we remove posts that advertise a product, service, website, or opportunity.
Our Code of Conduct outlines the types of content we do not allow on the site. This includes any obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit photos, as well as any photos that depict graphic violence. We also remove content, photo or written, that threatens, intimidates, harasses, or brings unwanted attention or embarrassment to an individual or group of people.”
Nigga, please.
Which rule(s) did I violate? And why not notify me beforehand and give me a chance to rectify the problem? Want me to use my real name? Fine, I can change it. Too many booty pics? Cool, I’ll stop postin’ em. But I wasn’t on Facebook playing Mafia Wars and that stupid-ass “Which Muppet Are You?” quiz. I was conducting business. There were valuable phone numbers, addresses and other information I’d yet to transcribe, stored in my FB inbox. In one day these motherfuckers wiped out what took months to build and didn’t have the decency to offer a straightforward explanation.
At least at MySpace you can holla at The Big Homie (a.k.a. Tom) if there’s a problem. At Face-less-book, there’s nobody to answer your questions. They just slit your throat like a ninja in the dark and disappear into the night. If a person’s profile bustles with what they deem as too much activity, Facebook shuts ‘em down without warning. But isn’t that what most folks come there for? To kick it with their buddies, socialize and have fun? Is there a limit to how much fun we should be having? I guess Facebook is like any other stuffy condo community; if you make too much noise the board members kick your ass out.
It’s cool, though. When BlackPlanet first came out, it was the shit. Baggin’ chicks on there was like shooting fish in a barrel. My homies and I thought it could get no better. Then MySpace came along and BlackPlanet became a ghost town. Years later, Facebook came along and muscled MySpace out of the way. So sooner or later another social network will snatch the crown from Facebook’s pompous head. There are a few contenders: Twitter is steadily gaining momentum and with a few adjustments it could become the new head-nigga-in-charge. Friends of mine have been sending me invites from Tagged. And MySpace is making adjustments to its interface in an attempt to reclaim the throne. My profile wasn’t the one Facebook disabled; there are tens of thousands. So perhaps when people tire of the Draconian rules implemented by Facebook, they’ll eventually leave in droves for the next fun new thing.
In the meantime I’ve opened up another Facebook account to regain some of the contacts I lost and can’t reach anywhere else. I’ve also opened up a fan page for The Spizzy as well. From the hood to the internet all I know is opposition. Nothing has ever come easy for me and I don’t expect it to lighten up now. The closer I get to completing my goals, the more resistance I get. But this little setback will only make me stronger. And I vow to spend more time in the MySpace ghetto I abandoned. Serves me right for turning my back on my roots.
I loved the piece, good stuff. Funny but yet so telling and true. I always liked Myspace better anywayz. I just got a FB like 2wks ago, and that was because my fam was there. I see you back in the hood!
BP killed facebook last night!
yeah, myspace has it’s bullshit too but i’ve never had a problem there.
well guess what? after 3 days, facebook re-instated my profile. i still lost a lil’ business ‘cuz i was in the middle of some time-sensitive, important shit when they pulled the plug. but i’m writin all my shit down immediately from now on. don’t know when they’ll cuff me again.
no doubt, i’mma catch you in the cyber-hood. you know how we do over there LOL
Big Brother is watching , sad but true.
word. i’m wondering if these social sites are run by the illuminati & shit.
facebook doesn’t allow aliases. they wanna keep tabs on us, i guess. that’s what i thought they suspended me for but that wasn’t the reason.
the fucked-up thing is people be on there snitchin on themselves like it’s “world star hip hop” or sumthin, postin their every move.
it’s fun, but scary
if anyone gives a shit, here’s the explaination facebook gave me for suspending my account:
“Hi Black,
Your account has been suspended because you posted content through Facebook’s Links application that has been removed for violating Facebook’s Terms of Use. Links that include drug use, nudity, or other graphic or sexually suggestive content are not allowed, nor are links that depict violence or that attack an individual or group of people. Unfortunately, for technical and security reasons, we are unable to provide further information about the removed link.
However, after reviewing your situation, we have reactivated your account, and you should now be able to log in.
Thanks for your understanding,
Tatsuya
User Operations
Facebook”
HMMMM…
they claim i post links to sex, drugs & depictions of violence.
ya’all know me, spizzy familia. does that remotely sound like sumthin i’d do? when you think of the spizzy do the words “sex, drugs & violence” even come to mind? of course not, i provide traditional all-american family entertainment.
journalism is supposed to be my savior but even in cyberspace i’m gettin locked up.
oh well, at least they re-instated a nigga. now it’s back to bizness.
I have yet to get on Facebook, and I really wish that people would stop selling out and joining what I’ve always considered to be the social networking site for boring motherfuckers. If Myspace wants to reclaim the throne, it’s really simple:
1. Split Myspace into two sites: One for minors, and one for adults.
2. Allow nudity on the adult site.
That’s it. They’ll get props for from all the morality groups for trying to prevent kids from looking at inappropriate stuff, and people who left myspace will definitely come back for the new adult comtent. But they don’t have the balls to do that, those pussy motherfuckers.
We take the opportunity of this blog post to inform the net citizens about our effort to make a steady and fair environment for Facebook users. As you may already know Facebook Accounts are SUSPENDED with geometrical progress. We started a petition against this policy and we ask to unite your voice with ours to create the proper attention and rectify this issue with Facebook admins. Current editors at various newspapers want to see that there is a certain interest before they create articles to their websites and/or magazines. To all readers and to blog owner we ask to support our petition here : http://FacebookDisabled.me (redirects to petitionspot) – Twitter : http://twitter.com/facebookpetitio . Thank you !!