Will Facebook close your account?

Facebook has announced that it’s to close 83 million accounts that fall into three categories; duplicate, misclassified and undesirable accounts. Facebook Profiles - rather than Pages - that represent businesses could fall into any of these three categories and are at risk of being closed.

This has always been the case and I’m aware of a number of businesses who have had account profiles shut down.

“On Facebook we have a really large commitment in general to finding and disabling false accounts,” Facebook’s chief security officer Joe Sullivan told CNN. “Our entire platform is based on people using their real identities.”

However, this is the first time that Facebook have identified the number of accounts that are at risk of closure.

Now a public quoted company Facebook needs to ensure that it’s users follow its rules and it’s clear that businesses should be represented by a Page and individuals by a Profile.

“Profiles (timelines) are for personal, non-commercial use only. They represent individuals and must be held under an individual name. Pages are for professional or official use, and allow an organization, business, celebrity or band to maintain a presence on Facebook.” Source: Facebook

Facebook’s main source of revenue is advertising with businesses advertising to individuals (or consumers) so a clear distinction between the two groups needs to be maintained. In addition, for reporting reasons it’s now more important for Facebook to provide accurate reporting including numbers of users.

There are numerous businesses which could at a stroke lose their audience of ‘friends’ they have built up using a Profile. Gerrys Wines and Spirits, a well known London off-licence is an example. In their case their profile along with nearly 5000 friends could disappear.

If you have any questions on this issue please let me know or comment below.

About Jonathan Pollinger

Enthusiastic and knowledgeable about all social networks, Jonathan helps people, business and organisations make the most of social media. View all posts by Jonathan Pollinger →