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Scoble Banned From Facebook; Calacanis Happy
Written by Allen Stern - January 3, 2008
The big news in from Silicon Valley this morning is that Robert Scoble has been banned/blocked/not allowed to use Facebook anymore. Iit's interesting how Facebook just bans/blocks people at will. He's been completely removed from the directories and friends' lists says Rodney Rumford of FaceReviews. Rumford goes on to note that this is a good thing as Scoble was playing around as a bot and Facebook has a bot-security system.
Should we be concerned that a social network can ban/block a person without even a chance to notifiy his or her friends of this issue? It's like cutting off your old analog line without getting one of those "the number has been changed" messages.
The net positive from this is that we will certainly see another push towards data portability -- that is being able to make a zip file of all of your goods on one social network to take to another social network. Scoble has a large enough following to start a strong tidal wave. This is a good thing.
I hear from an inside source that Jason Calacanis is happy as he has been moved up on the friend rankings. I smell a Mahalo push today. :-P
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Now THAT is a funny line! Ahhh, the things Jason will do to get ahead of me.
Should we be concerned? If someone violates a site's Terms of Service, I don't think they're entitled to a last meal and a chance to say bye bye to their Facebook friends.
The bigger issue is one of due process. As a private company, Facebook has no obligation to provide due process before cutting somebody off, but from a good business/branding/PR perspective, it would be smart if they can say they've done so in order to be able to explain and stand by such a move.
I think previous reputation for a person should mean something. If it's day 1 and you screw up, fine no last meal. But if you've been around a long time and have always done right, then should we still be guilty first?
yeah I agree, banning outright with no warning seems way to harsh. The email was sent seem to indicate he would get his account back if he appealed.
By the time you've given a bot "enough" time to respond, the damage might already be done.
I would guess that FB hasn't yet invested in building a more fine-grained or intelligent system (e.g. if someone displays bot-like behavior with their account, send them an email message and, if they send X more emails, disable the account so all they can do is log in and view their own profile and inbox).
I'm coining a new term, and I think it'll enter the lexicon this very day. Scobled. As in "you've been Scobled" (banned or terminated abruptly and without warning).
What was he doing as a bot? Or was he just as active as a bot? tee hee!
Lesson Learned: Facebook will only let you get just *so* popular and than *poof* you are gone! :) Scobled!
This isn't news, or if it is, it's because Scoble's at the centre. This has been Facebook's practice for a while. But I must say - I want that script.
Actually, my brother got the same treatment.
Turns out he was sending so many emails to friends -- using it like it was IM -- that FB flagged him as a bot and disabled his account.
This is a PR fiasco even if Scoble was doing something that breached FB's terms of service. Anyone with any kind of PR or media relations experience would have never let this happen - it's not Scoble was being discreet about his Facebook activity.
Do any of commentors actually run networks with a lot of users? It can be difficult to manage when users can upload their own data. You can't allow bots to just run scripts inside accounts without stopping them. They can cause harm, even if unintentional.
I would absolutely freeze an account to avoid a widespread data contamination or loss first, and then reinstate the account later. Even gentle people meaning no damage can inadvertently unleash a disaster.
claim mahalo or jason would take advantage of such a thing!
http://www.mahalo.com/Scoble_Blocked_on_Facebook
:D
you gotta understand sean - i know where jason was brought up - and so i know how he works :)
it's funny that you don't include CN in your links - i know it's a policy not to link to cn but c'mon!
This is where I should say you are welcome to add your own links to any pages (where relevant).
In this case however I have already added this post to the page
Now stop being such a jerk to us. :)
Sean
lol im a jerk lol - yea ok - i think jason puts something in that coffee machine :)
i know about adding links... just was curious as to why you commented here but it wasn't added - that's all
Is who "owns" your social network? Is it "yours" or facebook's?
Facebook's arbitrary insistence that it owns my friends is one of the reasons I can't really be bothered with Facebook.
I think I rather just meet people offline - where no 22 year-old dweeb can cut me off.
[[FACEBOOK UNION]]
I’ve heard this idea before. Who thinks there should be some sort of Facebook Union?
Essentially, it’s just like any other type of union. If one of us gets banned unfairly, we all stop using the site. They have to listen to the masses…
Many of us here are highly influential individuals, and we should all agree on the following:
1) Convicted individuals need a way to plead for their innocence and individuals who are not in violation of any rules should have restored accounts.
2) All rules should be stated clearly on the site, and non-damaging first-time violations of rules that are not made clear should be dealt with through a warning.
I’m going to be creating a Gmail account and all who are interested in becoming part of the Facebook Union can email me at facebookunion@gmail.com
All will be valued here.