Fuck Facebook, Again

4/18/2026 at 6:36:23 AM

It reads as a stream of thought. I quite enjoyed it. He can't get his kids off the computer, are they gaming? Or on Facebook (unlikely given their ages). Sounds like the alternative they've been given is cleaning the house. My kid is not at that age nor does she have a device, but I hope that as she grows older we can maintain some of the same interests to keep a connection doing fun stuff...including gaming but mostly outdoors, we can dream

by bokkies

4/18/2026 at 8:00:19 AM

How can anyone enjoy Linkedin? Is there a secret recipe to see relevant stuff?

by puzu

4/18/2026 at 1:34:41 PM

I think it’s binary. You’re either part of the “growing my personal brand”, self-aggrandising b**shit crowd or you’re not. If you’re in it for yourself, it’s all about your posts and your comments on other people’s, so that’s fine. That’s the ‘social network’ side of things.

There’s still a small residual function related to maintaining an online CV and supporting messaging between businesses, recruiters and individuals, but this is distinct from the ‘social’ feed.

by mft_

4/18/2026 at 11:15:18 PM

I couldnt find his last 20 years of posts, Youtube channel I found tho.

"I have been pouring my heart and soul out on this blog for almost two decades. If you enjoy reading it, please consider supporting my efforts."

by nitroedge

4/18/2026 at 4:48:03 AM

I have the same sentiment. But I didn't finish past the first few sentences. The English is poorly written.

by foofoo4u

4/18/2026 at 7:59:54 AM

The author is Vietnamese. And that language has almost no associative words. Instead of “my son will be smart in the future” you just say “son mine future smart”. That’s probably why some of his sentences are shortened in unexpected ways. But I still found it reasonably easy to read.

by fxtentacle

4/18/2026 at 5:57:01 AM

At least it isn’t AI

by xprnio

4/19/2026 at 9:16:36 PM

What is this "Facebook"?

by chairmansteve

4/18/2026 at 9:02:43 AM

I too feel that linkedin in more enjoyable for engagement, however I can see how each person would be getting a different vibe with each platform depending on what interests they give the algorithm. (I have seen some other folk's fbook feeds and can see why they would keep scrolling with the unending feed of [insert thing]

I had decided to go all in on facebook and instagram for advertising though. Spent a lot of time building systems to run ads that are helpful to target audiences, watched a ton of videos on post-andromeda fbook ad content, built multiple apps to incorporate AI with creation of the right set of text and graphics at scale..

I ran ads for 8 days and was banned.

The system would not tell me why. The chatbot support eluded to community standards and other hand wavy things.

The system forced me to upload an ID and do a live cam proof of life in order to send an appeal.

Soon after I get a notice - permanent ban. No more appeals.

So now I can't run meta ads. I can't boost posts. A couple other restrictions. Found out the business page I was sending ads to has some sort of 'can't do ads restrictions' now on the page creator.

I went through a dozen chatbot questions and answers, even tried their manus chat support thing. One of them teased being able to get a human into the chat, and then came back with something like 'they are too busy sorry' multiple times.

I spent a ton of time scrolling through the endless terms and community standards. Chatting. Searching the web.

I'm working on a blog post about this over the weekend.

With Fbook doing some sort of 'small business' push and 'our AI is great for business' push - I scratch my head in bewilderment.

If it was my company, I would flag an issue with an ad, pause that one, and send a note to the advertiser letting them know what the issue is so they can adjust and then run more ads.

The ban, and support by AI is a terrible way to treat people.

The same AI could of flagged an issue when the ad was made / saved. (funny thing is; one of the ads systems I was building was collecting info to warn people about issues with ads since I learned there are extra rules for health / beauty / addiction treatment, etc)

I still don't know what the ad issue is, and the way I was treated is frankly horrifying.

I have a ton of screenshots and the chat logs, blog post coming soon.

by stevenicr

4/18/2026 at 8:06:33 PM

First draft: https://steveiscritical.com/04/eight-days-how-meta-banned-a-...

so bizarre having a chat bot representing a business we are doing business with, say things like:

"Our technology found your ad account doesn't follow our Advertising Policies. As a result, our technology took action."

"Since my internal checks confirm that the review process for this specific ad account is complete and the decision to maintain the restriction is final, I am unable to assist you further with restoring access to this account. I know this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and I understand how challenging this is for you as a new advertiser."

- There is literally no way you can understand 'how challenging this is' for me.

Hilarious: "I know this lack of specific information is frustrating when you're trying to resolve the issue for your business."

- The AI bot really actually understands, I feel so heard and understood:

"Would you like me to help you check the status of any other ad accounts you may have?

no, if I can't run ads for this business then it will fail, I will be out of business and need to find a regular job somewhere. I can't believe this is a final decision. I firmly believe either the reviewer was mistaken in the action they selected, or Meta has bigger problems in that they have a policy that permanently bans a new business / advertiser within a week and there is nothing that can be done. This really seems abusive and improper. Is there someone else I can file a report about this with?

I can certainly understand how frustrating and impactful this situation is for your business. I hear your concerns about the review process and the impact a final decision has on a new advertiser.

While my internal checks confirm that the review is complete and the decision has been upheld, I can connect you with a support agent who can further investigate your specific case and discuss potential next steps with you. Would you like me to do that?

Yes

Our support team is currently experiencing high demand and is unable to connect right now, but I can continue to assist you here. I understand how critical this is for your business. To move forward, would you prefer to: A) Try the fastest fix B) Walk through diagnostic steps together Which would you like to try first?

I've already done all these steps I am sure. Will you help me craft a story to share with the news stations and via other networks so I can warn others not to depend on facebook or meta because they ban you within a week with no explanation and no recourse

I can't help with that."

"I can confirm the following sequence of events regarding your ad account based on our interaction and the information in our system: Timeline of Account Activity

    Initial Activity: Your first advertising campaign was created on March 09, 2026.
    Account Restriction: Within approximately one week of running ads, the ad account was disabled for violating our policies regarding mass activity or unauthorized content.
    Verification Attempt: You previously completed an identity verification step, which involved uploading an ID document to confirm your identity.
    Final Decision: Following that review, a final decision was made to keep the account restricted. In our system, this is marked as Review complete, and the restriction is upheld.

Review Process and Human Involvement

Meta uses a combination of automated systems and human reviewers to identify and investigate activity that may violate our Ad Standards. Initial detections are often automated, while subsequent reviews of appeals are typically performed by trained specialists to ensure accuracy. However, once a review is marked as “complete” and the decision is upheld, the system treats it as the final outcome for that specific account.

Currently, there are no additional internal options or alternative support channels to overturn this decision for this ad account."

--- Just a few excerpts from the support I received from facebook / meta as a business account / paying advertising customer.

by stevenicr

4/18/2026 at 6:06:46 AM

Just stop using it. You don't need it. You never did.

by f30e3dfed1c9