In terms of the Internet, calling someone a spammer is about the lowest jab a person can give, especially if the accused denies the claims. David Fagin, an AOL News writer and musician, recently became very familiar with this type of scenario after Facebook accused him of being a spammer.
Have you ever been falsely accused of spamming others? Please share your story.
In our exclusive interview with Fagin, he explained that Facebook called him a spammer and blocked him from sending friend requests after he frequently used its friend suggestions feature. This happened not once, but twice. The second time Facebook told him that his account would be deleted if it happened again.
The social network also had Fagin go through a checklist of boxes to, essentially, admit his guilt, a process he likens to the treatment of a registered sex offender. In an opinion piece on AOL, he wrote, “So tell me, what is the point of a feature that hits you with dozens of friend suggestions every hour, then clamps down on you and treats you like a registered sex offender when you take them up on it?”
Speaking of the irony in the situation, Fagin called Facebook “hypocritical” and told us, “On one hand, their policy says that everyone should be friends… on the other side, they’re saying nobody should be friends with you if you don’t know them.”
In an effort to voice his frustration, Fagin attempted to contact Facebook to only learn that the social networking giant doesn’t have any customer support, which is a tad bit surprising.
“Why are they so afraid, or just completely not interested, in setting up any kind of user feedback or support line?” he asked.
Although companies like PayPal are known for their support staff, other companies such as Google have been criticized for not having customer support. Google has especially been faulted for its lack of support in its Local area.
Although Facebook connected with a lawyer that is advising Fagin and said that it wanted to resolve the matter, nothing has happened. After a month of silence, Fagin decided to get Facebook’s attention and sued it for $1. He believes this is a problem that has been ignored for too long.
“While our policy makers are out there falling all over themselves for photo ops for Mark Zuckerberg and company, they’re not doing anything about the fact that this is a 700 million user community and counting,” he said.
He went on to say, “They have all our information, they have all our data – they’re using it to make themselves richer than God, and that’s okay with me, as long as you give me some kind of legitimate accountability where I can actually defend myself if you’re accusing me of violating a policy.”
Fagin hopes that his lawsuit will spark Facebook to take action in its customer service department. He also told us that anyone with an experience similar to his own could email him.
Do you agree with Fagin and believe Facebook needs to provide a team for customer support?
Update: Over the weekend, David Fagin also created a Facebook group to further spread the word about Facebook’s need for customer support.