Doctacosa

In my last post, I wrote about owning my data on platforms that I control. The core point I made is about how “I prefer to be on platforms that aren't at the whim of someone else”, for a variety of reasons. For example, I can get shut down for any reason elsewhere, without warning, and I don't want my work to go to waste. This is all based on what-if scenarios, of course...

... until Facebook went and shut down the Creeper's Lab page without any explanation, just a few days ago. We've apparently violated the “community guidelines”, without any extra details provided. Facebook being what it is, there's no human involvement. I filed for an appeal, which simply consisted of pressing an “Appeal” button without a chance to ask or add information. This was denied, so the page is now permanently marked as closed after 12 years of serving the community.

I'm not sure yet what to do with this. Try again and relaunch a new page? Swear off the platform entirely? I don't know. I'm not doing this for me, as I don't especially like most social media platforms; I'm doing it to reach people where they are and share updates where they have a chance to see them. Anyone reading this has suggestions on the next step? Maybe you're affected and want to share something!

If anything, this just motivates me on not depending on any single platform. Being too involved with a single place risks losing so much more if something like this happens.

Side note, I spent a good amount posting ads on Facebook in the past few years to attract more players to the Creeper's Lab. They were more than happy to take my money then, without pesky community guidelines getting in the way...

#facebook #socialmedia #creeperslab

– Doctacosa