Dear Facebook:
Nearly every time I post a link anywhere on Facebook these days, it is marked as spam. Your newest spambot algorithm sucks. Usually it is a link to one of my own blog posts that sets it off, and now even a friend's very benign YouTube link was marked as spam.
There is absolutely nothing spammy about any of the content of what I post, and my comments generally enhance, support, or illustrate a point on a given thread. Your Facebook algorithm is absolutely senseless. And yet, you let real spam through all the time. What gives?
Or do you have a grudge against writers who post links to their own poetry? Thinking it's faux news? I know it is difficult getting the news from poetry, but really? When someone else posts one on my blog pieces, say, my story on Mickey McGowan's Unknown Museum, you don't mark that as spam. But when I make comments on that thread, it's suddenly spam? So, I take it that this is personal?
It's bad enough that you continue to block me whenever I correct my typos on my own comments and threads. I'm a terrible typist, and often need to revise my comments because I'm dyslexic. Sometimes you even tell me it isn't possible to open or edit my own update posts.
You are not keeping Facebook safe by blocking me when I revise my own comments on my own page. I have contacted you to complain over 100 times—this year alone. Talk about falling on deaf ears. I've been saving up a few of my comments for a blog post as I've gotten rather creative with them. Be forewarned.
But blocking my blog links makes me absolutely cranky because there's no rationale for your actions. And yes, I do contact you when a comment is marked as spam, and I tell you that it's not spam, but still, you delete it anyway—along with my notes. A lot of good that does.
When I came aboard the social media platform, I had some rules. That I would write and post relevant content, in themed threads, that I would interact with my larger writing and art community in a meaningful manner, that I would use my Facebook comments as warmer-uppers, jumping off places to write blog posts—whether news, memoir, or poems. So, I tend to save the more interesting comments, and recycle them. Sometimes I get lucky and get some decent writing from it.
But this censoring has gone too far. And yes, I know I'm ranting at bots. No hoo-mans involved. But I will continue to rant and complain for all I'm worth—because I can.
I treasure my Facebook community—all 885 of my "friends" and my 185 followers, I would hate to lose that very rich matrix, but sometimes I just want to delete my account. I grit my teeth and step back. And remember why I signed up for this. There is no way I could've reconnected with so many folks from my myriad walks of life, sans Facebook. You included. I treasure you all.
SOME FACEBOOK COMMENTS I KEPT (I've probably contacted FB about 100 times this year alone. I didn't get the idea to start saving my comments until later. These are but a few (one quarter) of the comments I saved from 2017). Out with the old.....
Maureen Hurley Dec 31, 2017 Dear FB, I just wrote a note to Jesse Colin Young: "A long way from Inverness. Remember your blue VW bus? You used to give me rides home from school, when I was hitching. The Zettls lived on my road in FK, so it was always a great ride score, as I only had to walk a half mile home. You were part of my matrix. Thank you for that.
(Sigh) Facebook nanny removed my blog post on hitching in Marin with a paragraph about you. I don't understand why FB assumes that writing one's own memoir could be construed as spam."
Hitching in Marin during late 60s, early 70s
October 11, 2010 (I wrote out dot where every dot was. Pain in the arse.)
And also today Dec 31, 2017, on another thread, who knew the NPR article and link on bread was spam? FB Spambot strikes again. Here is the offending post.
"Friendship Bread — also known as Amish Friendship Bread — is the chain letter of baking. A simple starter of flour, sugar, milk, water and yeast is mixed together and then developed for 10 days at room temperature. The person who makes the starter, similar to a sweet version of a sourdough starter, keeps some to bake up a loaf of bread or other baked items, then they divide the rest to pass on to friends. If a little of the starter is kept, it can become the basis of a new batch of starter.Well, FB nanny removed the link from NPR, claiming it was spam.
Here is the offensive title:
The Friendship Bread Project: Can Baking Promote Unity In A Divided World?
https://www.npr.org/.../the-friendship-bread-project-can...
My friend was mystified as to why it was marked as spam. Máirtín Taidhg Jack said: Thank you Maureen Hurley. FB marked your comment as spam so I was a little disappointed that there was no full frontal nudity when I eventually got to see it.
Maureen Hurley Well the bread really is naked. So I guess that might be construed as full frontal nudity. FB spamnannybot really has it out for me... All those yeast beasties breeding. The naked and the bread.
Here's another nonsensical FB block I get early and often. I'm using the edit feature too fast. Should I type S L O W E R ? You secretly prefer typos?
"Facebook Blocks
To help keep Facebook safe, we sometimes block certain content and actions. If you think we’ve made a mistake, please let us know. While we aren’t able to review individual reports, the feedback you provide will help us improve the ways we keep Facebook safe.
Please explain why you think this was an error
Thanks for taking the time to submit a report.
Learn more about what happens when you’re blocked or if your content was removed."
Maureen Hurley 12/10/17 Why are you blocking me? I am adding titles to the links on a thread I posted on my own page, since you've changed the format how links display, they often have no title.
You began blocking me this morning. SO more than 12 hours later, I thought I'd finish my task, and fix the rest of the titles, and yet you're still blocking me. It's Christmas cartoons fergawdsakes. It's really stupid for you to block such a benign series of posts.
It seems like you pick on me a lot, and I'm not abusing Facebook, nor am I doing anything wrong. This problem has been going on for months now. And all I'm trying to do is be a responsible poster. Add titles to links, or descriptions. Fix typos, revise poorly crafted posts. No reason to punish me for it.
Maureen Hurley 10/15 Clearly this comment on my own post on my own page is a threat to Facebook safety:" “Olly olly oxen free” is a mutation of something like "All ye out come in free." (Meaning, back four centuries ago when we have the first known games of hide-and-seek) that anyone still hiding (out) can come back without getting tagged (free)."
STOP BLOCKING ME!!!
Maureen Hurley 10/15 Would someone at Facebook turn off the spambots? Every time I correct or revise a comment ON MY OWN POST, ON MY OWN PAGE, I am blocked. Every single time I make a correction or clarify a comment, I get this window. I complain. What good does it do to contact you, Facebook. You don't listen.
What does it mean, I'm posting too fast? So I might revise a single comment 2=3 times before I get it right. I'm also dyslexic. How is revising my own comment on my own post on my own page, going too fast?
I get that you don't want me to post often, and it's clear that you sure don't want me to edit or revise my own previously posted comments. Revising the same comment to get it right is not posting too often. It's the SAME COMMENT. It's not a numbers game. I probably am mot posting too often, BTW, I also revise my comments on other people's posts. I hate typos.
If I am too quick in my editing, your bot grays out my post and blocks it so I can't repost it with corrections. It's a flawed algorithm. Clearly somehow thinks I'm abusing the system by revising a previously posted comment. Did I mention that I'm dyslexic? Yeah. How is this hurting you Facebook, for us to be literate.
Clearly nothing I post could be construed as spam or hateful. So it's clearly not my content, unless you think posting information about the devastating fires is wrong? Ergo, it must be my actions. Revising one's own comments on ones own post on one's own page is somehow construed as harmful to Facebook. Huh?
Your blocking system is utterly stupid, ridiculous, and useless. You are not even remotely "keeping Facebook safe" by doing this. You do know that, don't you? Fix it.
Maureen Hurley 10/15 Just STOP blocking me just because I've corrected an old comment that I posted two days ago. That's not going too fast. I correcting a typo on a comment that is a couple of days old. I revised and clarified a point. I'm a writer. That's what writers do. We revise. Early and often. I'm also dyslexic. And a terrible typist. So I revise my comments.
Your block system is utterly stupid, ridiculous, and useless. Just makes me angry. You are not even remotely "keeping Facebook safe" by doing this.
Maureen Hurley 10/14 See what you continue to block every time I try and correct a typo? Is this really necessary? JUST STOP.
"They had to evacuate 400 people from an Oakmont rest home, all at once, with no evacuation plan, and chaos ensued. Some are at Essie Allen HS, others are in Sacramento. So, yes, it's probably real."
Maureen Hurley 10/14 This is a freaking fire evacuation notice, Blocking me as I alert people is just plain stupid FB.
Maureen Hurley 10/10 Lemme see, you're blocking me because I'm trying to find out if there's a fire in Forestville, where my cabin is, and you deem that worthy enough to BLOCK me? Shame on you and the bot you rode in on.
Maureen Hurley 10/10 Is it my fault that FB spazmodically leaps all over when we write. You want I should post this typo?o longer synonm, full blown metaphor.onyYes, FB, that's what you chapped my hide on, as I was trying to fix TYPOS!! How is this even remotely construed as "going too fast." Just stop. Draconian. And guess what, it won't stop spammer...if that's what you think I am. BTW, I;ve been saving my comments to you, should make for a juicy blogpost, how you thwart and harass the average Facebooker over nonsensical BS....
Maureen Hurley 6/19 It's my photo, my post, my freaking wall, an obituary of a friend, and you choose to BLOCK me? What kind of jerk action is that?
Maureen Hurley 3/28 Stop blocking me because I revise my own comments on my own page. It's harmless. The content you objected to:
"Might be easier to use liquid glass to draw/paint the knotwork, yellow on a blue glass field would work.Just a thought."How is this even remotely construed as harmful? I make lots of typos, and tend to revise my comments several times over as I have dyslexia.
Serious mistake indeed. I really hate this extremely stupid algorithm. ANd for some reason, it zeroes in on me if I make any changes on my comments. Like most writers, I am a bit OCD with language, and want to get it just right. Please just STOP. This is the second incident on the same comment today. Serious mistake on your part. Do you even read these comments? Be forewarned: I am saving them all up and plan to write a massive blogpost using some of these complaints as examples.
It would behoove you to fix the glitch. Otherwise you will continue to hear from me early and often on a large scale format. I'm a whole lot more than just a little tired of this inconvenience. I'm thoroughly sick of it. And it's stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It does not make Facebook any safer. What do you think you're protecting readers against? Correct language usage and spelling/punctuation, not to mention, typos? How very noble of you to promulgate illiteracy.
Maureen Hurley 3/19 Hey, that was my first post of the day, so how could I be going too fast? And how is this comment to Brenda HIllman a risk?
"That's my homleland! I grew up there. My family came from Ireland to settle in the SGV, and called our place Coomb ab Or, hill of gold. And Butler is also a Norman Irish name...."How is that even remotely considered as spam, or a danger to the Facebook community. Why the fk do you keep blocking me at every turn whenever I correct or amend a comment? I make typos, have dyslexia, and think in incomplete sentences. About they only way that you're making Facebooks safer, is by encouraging typos.
Your algorithm is so very WRONG! I write to you several times a day. I really am annoyed by all this, it's been going on for days, weeks. It's clear that you don't actually read these notes or you'd deal with it. Last spate of communication I had with you, when I got a real comment back, you said it would take some time to fix the faulty algorithm. That was November. Hello? Did you even deal with it, or am I being subjected to some kind of permanent Facebook Hell here? Time for me to write a blog since my complaints are clearly falling on deaf ears.
Understand that I only complain about one time out of twenty. This is the tip of the iceberg. Please stop blocking me every time I edit a comment.
Maureen Hurley 3/18 You're doing it again. On my own posts, on my own timeline. STOP blocking me every time I correct a typo. You are not making Facebook, nor the English language any safer by preventing me from fixing my own typos on my own posts.
Maureen Hurley 3/17 I am so FN sick of this algorithm. Please kill it. It is deeply flawed. THis has been going on all day long. This is my 5th letter of complaints to you today as well.
BTW, I have been away from my computer for over 7 hours, and only just not had a chance to post a few comments, so I can't possibly be going too fast and abusing thee system...and yes, I made another typo. Silly me, I tried to fix it and AGAIN you've blocked me. Just STOP. I and cussing a blue streat at you...not eh te typo. That's something I do early and often, make many typos, and your algorithm is downright PUNITIVE. And yes, I am metaphorically shouting at you. STOP STOP STOP!
Maureen Hurley 3/17 How could I possibly be going too fast, I've managed to do an entire load of laundry (50 minutes) and am almost through my second load since I've last posted on FB. So posting comments once every hour or two is going too fast? Fix your fecking algorithm. I am SOOOOOOOOO very tired of this block, happens every time I try and correct a post, any post, no matter how old it is...
Maureen Hurley 3/17 Just stop blocking me. I can't even answer a post to wish my cousin a Happy St. Patrick's Day?
Apparently the offensive word was "too."
what I wrote: HSPD to you too Tina!
As to going too fast, I managed to clean the kitchen cabinets, make some oatmeal mush, and eat it since my last post....to you. I'm not going too fast. Try another excuse, like a bad algorithm.
Did you miss the part where I'I told you that I can't edit my posts...it's maddening algorithm. I'm a terrible typist, and partial thinker, not to mention dyslexic.
Maureen Hurley 2/11 I'm having a lot of trouble with Facebook, and sometimes can't even go in and fix the typos. For example, I can type 4 to 5 words, and nothing happens, then the type comes chasing after me like a little train (of thought). And gawdess help me if there's a typo. The cursor has a mind of its own. Then Facebook sanctions me with a time out for posting too fast.
Maureen Hurley 2/7 Clearly, correcting a self-typo is now perceived as spamming, or as toy say, going too fast, no matter that 40 minutes had elapsed between my typing a comment on my own thread, on my own page, and fixing the typo. I'm sure you would like to know the typo as well. OK, so it was mammon. I guess it should've been asshat.
Maureen Hurley 1/29 STOP! I have the right to correct, edit, amend my posts withougt you arbitrarily deciding that I'm going too fast or that I'm a spammer. I'm a terrible typist, and I have dyslexia, so I make a lot of mistakes. It takes me upon average, about three tries for each comment to get everything corrected
Maureen Hurley 1/28 perhaps I haven't made myself clear....
Latest FB censor nanny trigger:
(You can see this is an innocuous post, right? SO why censor me?)
Maureen Hurley Yep, triggered. This post was copied and repasted.
For some reason, FB picked my calling card. (I'm attempting to add onto this post...let's see ...) One thing that seems to trigger it is the speed in which I go back in and revise.
(Two minutes between original posting and correction, revision is construed as spam????)
Maureen Hurley HEY! I have the right to correct, edit, amend my posts withougt you arbitrarily deciding thst I'm a spammer, As you can see, I'm a terrible typist, and I have dyslexia, so I make a lot of mistakes. It takes me upon average, about three tries for each comment to get everything corrected.
So fsr, today, you have blocked me about 20 times. Almost all those blocks were my own comments and posts on my own page. How can I be spamming myself? Mostly innocuous statements, BTW.
QUIT BLOCKING ME!!! Just stop."It looks like you were misusing this feature by going too fast. You’ve been blocked from using it."
What is significant, is not that I make typos, etc., but that you, Facebook are being a censor nanny, and your algorithms are broke, if they continue to construe my correcting of my typos on a comment as a form of spam.
BTW, I can't help it if I think fast. It's in my nature. As is complaining, and fighting with algorithms. Getting the last word in.
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