It is no surprise why Facebook has grown so much and is passing by MySpace to quickly become the leader in social networking, it is clean. From day one Facebook has been strict on how people use their social platform. Obvious self promotion is severely frowned upon and could quickly get you banned from their website.

Facebook has very strict guidelines on how they want people to use their social networking tool and they will not hesitate to pull the plug on your profile. Launching a profile under your business name is a huge nono. Many people still try to launch personal profiles under their business name but be warned that you could spend a great deal of time and effort building up that profile only to have it shut down. You will still see friend requests coming from businesses because Facebook has not caught up with those profiles yet but it is only a matter of time before they do. In order for things to work out nicely you must launch a profile from an actual persons name. Then you can reach out to the community and try to express what it is that you offer but you must do it tastefully. Sure it makes it a bit more difficult to send someone a friend request from a person rather than a business but this is how Facebook keeps things as clean as possible in order to receive additional rounds of funding. If you want to target your business on Facebook you must create a business page located in the advertising section. You can then direct traffic to your business page through your personal profile to build awareness around your business.

It’s no surprise that the internet is moving at a fast pace. Every day it seems like something new is out and about creating a buzz and attracting visitors. With all the vast amounts of information where do you go to just learn without all the distractions? A new Facebook application by the name of Super Cool School has been developed with the hopes of educating individuals looking to learn about business techniques ranging from offline to online with topics such as social marketing and to how to write a business plan.

Each class is interactive with video, audio, chat and a virtual blackboard so classmates can interact with each other and also learn from each other. Unlike other online classes you have to purchase this one is free, fun and is introduced on a social level. For many trying to take classes and actually have to travel to a physical location just might not work with many people’s schedules these days. This way you can interact just like in a class room but sitting in your living room. If you can’t find a topic that you want to learn about you can actually request a specific area you want more understanding on and Super Cool School will find an expert to teach the topic of your choice. The best part is it doesn’t cost you one red cent to use. This is a great place for you to meet others with same interests so that you can network and build good long lasting relationships with. Super Cool School brings the power of knowledge and social media networking to one location.

If you are like many people that want to learn something but really don’t have the time to go out and search for available classes come check out Super Cool on Facebook and find out for yourself just how easy it is to learn again.

If users have had doubts in the past, it seems they have been answered. According to Facebook, they are not a social networking utility, rather they are “a social utility that connects you with the people around you”.

TechCrunch has a post related to a Facebook account that was deactivated and the email received (they received an email?) related to the accounts deletion. The circumstances admittedly are not your standard events. You can read the TechCrunch post for those details. Was it interesting and important to note is the wording of the email.

If users have had doubts in the past, it seems they have been answered. According to Facebook, they are not a social networking utility; rather they are “a social utility that connects you with the people around you”.

TechCrunch has a post related to a Facebook account that was deactivated and the email received (they received an email?) related to the accounts deletion. The circumstances admittedly are not your standard events. You can read the TechCrunch post for those details. Was it interesting and important to note is the wording of the email.

Please note that Facebook accounts are meant for authentic usage only. This means that we expect accounts to reflect mainly “real-world” contacts (i.e. your family, schoolmates, co-workers, etc.), rather than mainly “internet-only” contacts. As stated on our home page, Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you, not a “social networking site”. It is meant to help reinforce pre-existing social connections, not build large groups of new ones.

A follow up email to the TechCrunch post did clarify matters a little. In that email they stated:

We recognize and appreciate that each person uses Facebook based on their own interests and preferences and are happy to see people meeting new friends on Facebook.

That statement is almost the reverse of the first email. As I said earlier, the situation is an unusual one and related to multiple accounts or people using Facebook for reasons other than socializing. However, when looked at from a different perspective, the first email does state the ‘official policy’ according to their home page. The second email is almost an acknowledgment that individuals do go beyond ‘family and friends’ and that’s okay.

At least, it appears it’s okay if you don’t upset anyone. Upset the powers that be and they can use the ‘official policy’ to deactivate your account. A double standard in anyone’s book.

Facebook has been getting up the noses of a few people just lately by shutting down profiles without warning. Now they are about to roll out the new upgrades across the board.

I know there are many users who are happy with the new look, there are also many that are not. For those that are not happy, there are no smiles in sight. Facebooks’ announcement stated:

Throughout the next week, we’ll actively migrate all our users to the new profile. This will happen by default rather than on an opt-in basis. Shortly thereafter, the old Facebook profile will no longer be available to anyone.

The statement that caught my eye however was:

Over 30 million people have checked out the new profile, and many are using it as their profile full time. We’re nearing the time where we’ll switch over remaining users by default

I would have thought that most of the users who have not switched over had a reason – they didn’t like it. Life does go on and those that don’t like it will either move on, or learn to like it. In the long run, it is going to be the ease of use and stability that will be important.

Facebook have promised one new application to make your profile more accessible to users. They haven’t revealed this new application yet. If you haven’t switched to the new profile yet, standby – it will happen this week for you.

Welcome to Facebook they say when you get to their website, more like welcome to jail. I have been building a Facebook account for a good year now, actively engaging in discussions, networking with individuals local to me, joining groups that pertain to my interests and Facebook has decided to shut my account down. I thought this was extremely strange since it is a “networking” website and it is a little difficult to network if you are not allowed to request people you don’t know. Facebook asks you to only requests people that you know. Yeah ok most people couldn’t even name off twenty people they know but they are supposed to only link to people they know on a website that unlocks them to thousands of people with just a few clicks away. Barack Obama’s Facebook account currently at this very moment 1,450,617 friends, wow he has a lot of real life friends because you can only connect with people you know in real life. I don’t’ see his account getting shut off.

Facebook has fallen and bumped their head if they think they can control this. I think they have commissioned the secret service to monitor everyone’s behavior because I read the other day that someone had gotten kicked off because they used the search function too many times in one day!! The search feature?? What’s next getting your profile booted for thinking about sending someone a friend request? How is using the search feature too many times in one day bothering anybody? I have spent an entire year networking on Facebook with many other young adults promoting their website and this is how they repay you. When you try to log into your account they say they can’t tell you specifically what you did wrong for “security reasons”. What security? Am I going to hire a lawyer because my Facebook account got shut off, probably not. You have to send 17 emails to Facebook in the hopes of prying a reason out of someone. Why they hiding it?

I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere but they are quickly infuriating many people with these new rules and regulations and I don’t think Facebook wants to face another class action lawsuit. Maybe they are doing it to get a buzz going? If you send a friend request to someone they have the option to deny it. Easy and simple, click no thank you, go about your day and the problem is solved. Did it ever occur to Facebook that for every ten people that might actually enjoy receiving that friend request that the one person that triggers an abuse flag might just be ruining a good thing for everyone else? I think the whole point that Facebook is missing here is that if you want to call it a social networking site but you are not allowed to meet people you don’t know than it is useless. The whole point of networking is so that you meet people you don’t already know! Isn’t the whole point of networking to meet other individuals whom you can communicate with and feed off each other’s knowledge and strengths?

I am not promoting spamming social networking websites but Facebook needs put in place some much more tasteful strategies for monitoring its members. Sending friend requests is not spam, accepting a friend and having them nonstop slander your wall with ads is and should not be tolerated. It is time for Facebook to rethink their ink or they might just be shopping around for a reputation management firm!