#mynameis Anita Cox – Never Trust Facebook

I haven’t been on facebook much the last few months. I suffered a back injury and honestly, I would have done nothing but whine. So I kept my posting/scrolling to a minimum.

But I’m in groups on facebook that are important, groups I’ve PAID to have access to. I’ve taken expensive training courses where updated material is added.

On May 19th, I went to my millionth doctor’s appointment for my back injury. As I waited to see the doc, I pulled up facebook and bam…I was suspended and had to prove my identity.

I apparently impersonated myself. So fine, I reluctantly sent them my driver’s license. After FIVE hours and several messages, my regular profile was reinstated. The minute it was, they shut down my Anita Cox profile.

Insert tears.

So I’ve paid for courses through Nick Stevenson and Mark Dawson. This has given me access to private groups and content. I can no longer get to those groups. I imagine if I contact them, they’ll help me out, but that’s my time, and theirs, robbed because of Facebook.

Then….there’s my fan page. I am the only admin on my fan page so now, I’ve lost SIX YEARS worth of work. I’ve sent them signed contracts, mail, etc. and still…I’m banned. BANNED!

There’s literally no customer service at Facebook. There are bots that spit out responses…maybe. I’ve received no response from them whatsoever, I’m just still locked out.

We live in a day in age where everyone is on social media. We also live in a world where identities are stolen all the time. Why does Zuckerburg and his underlings need my driver’s license, bank statements, mail, and other identifying information JUST TO BE ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Jesus, it was easier to get a home loan than to prove I am Anita Cox? That I operate as Anita Cox, have for years. They’re costing me time, money, anxiety.

There’s no guarantee I’ll ever see my page again. None. No one to reason with over at FuckupyourlifeBook.

They want this information so they can share it–so they can expose you. Forget the money I’ve spent on ads with Facebook. Forget that my BUSINESS is attached. They can rip away your contact with the world…just because.

And don’t give me the Community Standards bullshit. There are TONS of people online who operate under a pseudonym. Tons. Authors and other professionals use them all the time. Facebook has made it so that you cannot reply to people during events and whatnot from your fanpage. They made this mess and you have to try to navigate the waters that they change at whim…because they can.

And after SEVEN years of being on facebook as Anita Cox they rip it all away in ONE day. My contacts, my livelihood…threatened by them for no apparent reason.

So, I’m going to sit here binge eating Hershey Bars, chasing it with strong coffee while I figure out how to proceed. If that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll stick some xanax in the next chocolate bar and just slip away into the night, never to be heard from again.

We need a different platform. We need one that will be easy for people to switch to because this…this is awful and I’m not the first, nor the last, person this has happened to. One author’s post I just read quit writing entirely. She was doing very well until some dickweed reported her for impersonation. It was all downhill from there.