This isn’t a blog post that I ever thought I’d have to write, but this week I was banned from Facebook for 24 hours!

It happened because a bystander viewed a comment that I had posted on my personal Facebook profile as ‘offensive’, and reported me to Facebook. What is REALLY scary is that they deleted all their comments raising concerns about this comment;

and this comment…

So when I posted these 2 replies, I was presumably reported for “bullying without provocation”!

This is the only notice you’ll get of any ban. You’ll go to log in and you won’t be able to!

I was given no notice, and there is no appeals process. The decision was final and the ban instant.

It is frightening that anyone can get you banned from Facebook so easily, and that you’ll have NO right of reply! Even criminals are treated more fairly than this!

It’s a harsh lesson for EVERY business owner!

There are several very important lessons to be learned from this episode;

#1: You are not in control of your social media accounts.

You’ve probably heard me say this plenty of times already, but you do not have any control over accounts you hold with 3^rd party networks.

A 24 hour ban is pretty minimal in the big scheme of Facebook punishments, and it could very easily have been much worse. If you don’t have a Lead Magnet on your website, and are regularly converting your social media followers into warm leads, what would happen to your income if you were given a ban of 28 days or more?

#2: It only takes 1!

The higher your status as a Social Expert, the larger your audience… the more likelihood of you attracting a “hater”. In this case, with one click, they got me banned from Facebook

This isn’t a reason to play small though. You owe it to yourself and the people who you help to continue rising above the parapet and getting your message out there.

But it is a reason to protect yourself.

Which leads me on to…

#3: Who are the Administrators of your Facebook page/s, group/s and event/s?

If you are the only Admin of your Facebook pages and, groups you run, or events you manage, and you find yourself temporarily banned or permanently removed from Facebook, you will not be able to access your Facebook page, groups or events at all.

I recommend that you have a minimum of 3 Administrators (at Manager level) for every Facebook presence essential to your business; yourself and 2 others. If possible, make your spouse (or someone you share your home with) one of the admins, so in an emergency you can use their account to access your page etc, without having to rely on someone else doing it for you.

Your  3^rd Administrator could be a trusted employee, relative or outsourcer. Choose wisely though as additional Administrators will have equal rights to you. They could, if so inclined, remove you from your own page or group.

Be especially aware of this ifs you have employees as Administrators, and you later have to terminate their employment. HMV fell foul of this when they sacked their social media team BEFORE removing their Admin rights… leaving the disgruntled ex-employees free to share their displeasure through HMV’s own Twitter account!

So PLEASE see this as a lesson for you to make sure your business can survive without you having access to Facebook… if the worst should happen and you too find yourself banned from Facebook.

Today, please set aside some time to check all of the Facebook pages, groups and events you own to make sure you have at least 3 trusted Administrators with Manager level access!

Have you ever been subjected to a ban or suspension from Facebook? What happened? Please leave me a comment below and tell me what you think?