How I got my Facebook back (And why it may not matter)

The last few days have been such a relief. So much of the stress I’d retained the last few months has finally evaporated. Why? Because I FINALLY got my Facebook back! After almost 2 in a half months of emails, videos, petitions, and anything else I could pull, I finally got my Facebook back. But like everything else in the life of D-2-da-A, this conclusion has only left more questions. Namely?

HOW?

As you can see by the email, someone clearly had a facepalm moment & decided to correct the error of FB’s evil ways. But there in lies the mystery, there’s no explanation as to why the decision was reversed. Now, to understand where I’m going with this, I’ve got to lay down some context. Now, I’m plenty pumped to have my Facebook back, in fact I think it’s a little f***ing overdue all things considered. But I 1) have a ton of friends who’re asking how I got my account back whom I don’t really have any answers for & 2) promised countless others [who have similar stories to mine] that if I ever found a way to get my account back, I share the secret. Trying to deduct a reason from any number of the avenues I pursued leads one to any number of possibilities.

-There’s all the blogging I did about my ordeal
-There’s the video I uploaded to inform my friends and plead my case
-There’s the group my friend started to petition my return to Facebook
-There’s the 15 or so e-mails I sent Facebook demanding an a swift answer (which I never got)
-There’s the tweets I put up and responded to on Twitter (you’d be surprised who reads those)
-There’s the investigation that I asked consumerist.com to jump into(Well it was nice of them to at least volunteer to look into the case…)
-There’s the unlikely possibility that it actually took Facebook 2 1/2 months to review and resolve my account (or at least I’d like to hope it’s unlikely; I’d like to hope that it really didn’t take 2 1/2 months to look over a review what is essentailly the same can of worms they opened up over 2 1/2 years ago…)
-Lastly, there’s the really stern letter I wrote & physically mailed to Facebook. This letter was accompanied by photocopies of 2 college IDs, my license, an old bank statement (from a closed account), my legal name change form (with my birthname whited-out) & all the e-mails we’d exchanged on the issue.

That address by the way, Facebook, 156 University Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301-1605

You’re welcome.

My reinstatement could be due to any of the aforementioned items (or any combination of such for that matter), but it would really grind my gears to find out that the only reason I got back on [after all that I'd done] was because of that letter. Not because of the information disclosed mind you, but because I had to pay postage to mail said letter, and hence, had to pay to use Facebook! No matter what the reason I was allowed back on the site, I still plan on leaving all the Facebook propaganda I’ve cultivated over the last few months up online. Just in case FB decided to pants me a 3rd time….

Although I would’ve loved to be in a position to sue Facebook for this absolute circus of ridiculousness, there may not be as much time as I think to rest on my laurels. Even though I have my account back, there’s no guarantee this won’t happen again; especially given that this time was the 2nd time this has happened. Not to mention the extreme dynamic that has now affected almost every relationship I’ve had/still have with all my friends on Facebook, courtesy of all the random synchronicity of personal issues that afflicted me around the same time of my Facebook ban. And don’t even get me started on the bad taste this whole event has left in my mouth. I have to force myself to use the site now, where it used to be I’d check it at least 4 times a day. Not to mention, stories like mine are becoming less and less of an isolated incident. People are getting blocked from Facebook for seemingly no reason, at the slightest provocation, everyday. You can’t possibly understand how soul-shattering it is to get ripped from your entire social network until it happens to you. It’s a fate I’d wish on no one. Regardless of where I go from here, I’ll never see Facebook the same way again.

Some will rally my story and tout my comeback. I’m no hero, turst me. I just got lucky, that’s all.

Others will say I’ve made far too big deal of this whole thing. That I should have enjoyed the freedom and taken the time to better connect w/my network in real life. But that in and of itself was the passion that fueled my drive. Because while many who frequent the site practically never leave unless absolutely necessary, I wasn’t one of them. I’ve always made efforts to enjoy the company of my network as often as possible, and this blow was all the more staggering given that my account was blocked right around the time I ended up relocating at least 9,000 miles (and in some cases quite over) away from my entire network. The way I see it, if there was ever a time I needed Facebook in my life, now was it. I’ve spent years building this network and the friends that came with it, there was no way in hell I was gonna roll over and give up on it.

Of course more of you will say I deserve all of this for changing my name, and to you I say, go complain about my name on your blog, I’ll be too busy telling people just why they call me D-2-da-A!

Tagged as: Facebook, Pops & Drops