by Lisa Hall-Wilson
I love Facebook. It has helped me launch a business, find old friends, document family memories, and engage with communities that otherwise I wouldn’t have connected with.
But a few days ago, Facebook decided to suspend my account without warning, without real appeal – permanently. I was on Facebook for 17 years without any infractions in those years. Being suspended on Facebook also gets you banned on Instagram (because Facebook owns Insta).
I have, in the past, taught writers how to use Facebook correctly to avoid Facebook jail or getting suspended. I’m typically a rule-follower. I’ve always warned people that Facebook is a game of roulette, and I guess I finally lost that game.
What Did I Do To Get Banned
I commented on a post shared by a writer friend. I didn’t post the photo. Many people commented on that near-viral post, or made a very similar comment. Here’s the photo in question:
I checked with Snopes – this is a legit label for One Night Cough Syrup from the 1800s. I made the joke that all they were really missing was cocaine – then they’d have had something really fantastic.
Now, keep in mind that Coca (the plant cocaine is made from) was a key ingredient in Coca-Cola in the 1800s and became popular because of its euphoric effects and boosted energy (source here). Sigmund Freud wrote the “Cocaine Papers” and prescribed it as a miracle drug.
I was joking, but the regular accepted legal use at the time this cough syrup was being marketed of Coca and cocaine is very well documented.
Context. Computers Are Not Good With Context.
Facebook says I violated their Community Standards (read the whole policy here).
I was not promoting drug use. I was not trying to sell or make drugs, and (in my opinion) the sarcasm about the helpfulness of cocaine in this recipe was blatant. It wasn’t a positive endorsement of the drug. What I did was use a banned word: “cocaine.” That was the real infraction. Yes, technically I was allowed to appeal, but the appeal was denied within one minute.
There were no human eyes involved in that appeal. And what adds to the sting is when speaking with a friend who’s a cop and sharing this experience, they laughed. They personally know of several cocaine dealers who use Facebook to move their product and have multiple Facebook accounts. *sigh*
May the odds be ever in your favor!
The Problem With AI Censors
Censorship is a problem, generally IMHO, but Facebook’s punitive use of banned words has been a recognized reality for a long time. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook), announced just this week that the platform would no longer censor users and instead promote free speech and is backing away from the banned words filtering.
The problem in tasking a computer to simply catch words that are banned means false positives (as in my case), and that any personal bias on the part of the developer, “fact-checkers”, or high-level execs filters down and silences voices that hold differing opinions. The Zuck openly admits this in his announcement this week (Here’s the announcement the Zuck made on the very same day I lost my account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSHpYHncNxw )
You Could Lose Your Facebook And Instagram Accounts Too
Here’s the stark reality (and this hasn’t changed in the 17yrs I’ve used Facebook): you don’t own any real estate on Facebook, or Instagram, or Tiktok or any other platform. That means you can be restricted, censored, and removed without any meaningful way to appeal or get human eyes or ears on your plight. There’s not really even any point in trying in my opinion.
Facebook has known for many years that their filters are punishing and suspending accounts wrongfully, and there was never any real mechanism put in place to deal with it. They don’t care:
- how long you’ve been on Facebook.
- that you’re losing access to a genuine community you’ve spent ten years building.
- that you’ve lost precious photos and family memories.
- how much money you spend on ads.
Tough luck.
Fooling The Filters
If you are using Facebook to promote your books or create a community, you’ve probably already been warned about the banned words filters. Many writers avoid the filters by asking for advice on how to “unalive” a character in a particular setting or historical time. Some replace characters with symbols to try and escape the AI: de@d for instance.
Posting book covers that reveal any amount of skin is problematic. I’m hearing of people having accounts restricted or suspended for posting a pic of a baby’s face for crying out loud. A friend got thrown in Facebook jail for using the word “fairy” in the context of talking about the Nutcracker Ballet’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Posting book covers or book titles that show any kind of weapons can get you in trouble. I heard of another who landed in Facebook jail for mentioning they were “hanging” a photo.
Filter Sensitivity
The filters are so sensitive it’s ridiculous. (I’ve heard many many similar complaints about Amazon filters on book covers, titles, and descriptions as well.)
If you’re writing content that others may find objectionable (language, nudity, sexuality, violence), you’re playing Facebook roulette. If the AI filters don’t nab you, all it can take is one complaint. And don’t be naïve and think that complaint system isn’t used punitively by others because it absolutely is.
Don’t neglect building community on space you do own – like a website, or an email list. For years, writers have been told not to rely on social media and make sure they build an email list. And that’s really hard as a fiction author because:
- What do you blog about?
- Should you go to the time and expense of a website if you haven’t got a book out yet, but realize you need to build community if you’re going to sell the book once it’s out?
- If you’re not publishing a new book every month, what do you include in a newsletter?
I get it. It’s a catch 22. Keep writing more books. It’s still true that the best way to sell the last book you wrote, is to publish another.
An email list may be the only way you have to communicate with people should the worst happen. Include links to an email list inside book matter for new releases and such. Try giving away free content in exchange for an email: extra chapters, prequel short stories, maps and other resources, etc.
Why Losing Facebook And Instagram Isn’t A Huge Problem
As someone who’s a news junkie, Facebook forced me over to X simply to stay on top of world events and to engage with local news. This move drastically reduced my Facebook usage. Perhaps for the better, given the events of this week. (As a Canadian, I’ve been barred from seeing any news links from anywhere around the world for a year and a half - see that announcement from Meta here.)
I have guest-posted here and in other places for many years, always leaving the same link to the same Facebook group. I’ve got a very good, organically-grown, audience there. And the reality is that the majority of those won’t sign up for my email list. And that sucks.
I have always relied on organic reach for my blog. I took a really fantastic course on organic growth a few years ago, and it has paid me back three times over. It doesn’t run anymore, but if you connect with Rachel Miller (www.rachelmiller.com) on her blog or other socials, she gives away a lot of free content.
Diversify!
All my eggs aren't invested in one social basket. I invested a moderate amount of time into Pinterest. I get very little traffic on blog post links from Facebook (the algorithm changes from time to time, but blog links have had seasons of very dismal reach). A great majority of the social traffic to my blog comes from Pinterest. Now, my blog’s audience is mostly writers, but even if your blog audience are genre fiction readers there is a lot of opportunity on Pinterest to engage and drive traffic.
If there’s one type of content I’ve been asked for more than another other from readers, it’s video content. So, I’ll be launching my YouTube channel very very soon.
Does YouTube have similar maddening censorship? Absolutely. I’m exchanging one roulette gun for another – I’m aware of that. So, I’ll be building in whenever possible links to the blog which encourages people to sign up for the emails. Creating unique content on each channel helps people see the need to get email even if they follow on Pinterest or subscribe on YouTube.
I’m waiting to see what happens with TikTok in the United States. That may be a platform I dive into learning if there’s a positive outcome there.
Backup Everything
I’ll be doing videos of my blog posts, and posting the short tutorial videos I had been posting infrequently on my Facebook group. I have a lot of those short tutorial videos saved offline (you can download even the live-streamed videos). That’s another key. Save everything offline (or at least the popular content), so if you have to start over, you have the content your audience resonated with to get you started.
Make a point of saving your email list offline at regular intervals.
Don’t rely on website platforms to buy your URLs. Make sure you own them, and can take them with you should something happen to your website platform (I use WordPress, but there’s a learning curve with that).
Invest In Learning SEO
Search Engine Optimization is always a great investment of your time, in my opinion. If you’re not hiring out your social media posting or blogging, then learning SEO is going to deliver really great bang for your buck. There are a variety of free and paid resources out there to help you do this, but understanding SEO means you’ve got a better understanding of keywords as they’re used as hashtags, or search features on social media or Amazon.
Learn Google Analytics for your blog or book data on retailer platforms. Know where your traffic is coming from, and focus on those platforms.
Don’t try and do it all. Learning these features means you’re better positioned to take advantage of organic discovery and algorithm recommendations (which cost you nothing).
I may try and create a new profile in a bit. Afterall, Facebook was the primary way I kept in touch with family. My first attempt got shut down almost immediately. I had a new email, used a device I’ve never used for Facebook, but it didn’t matter. You need a new email and phone number (unless you’ve somehow been able to avoid giving your phone number to Facebook), and restrict posting any photos of yourself because those were all mapped and catalogued and will be flagged on future profiles.
How do you feel about using Facebook to build community or drive traffic?
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About Lisa
Lisa Hall-Wilson is a writing teacher and award-winning writer and author. She’s the author of Method Acting For Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layers. Her blog, Beyond Basics For Writers, explores all facets of the popular writing style deep point of view and offers practical tips for writers.
Interested In Deep Point Of View? Here's the place to learn! https://deepdiveauthorclub.vipmembervault.com/ Class begins January 12th!
Cough Syrup Image from one-night-label.webp
Katniss Image from Lisa's personal blog