Facebook has become a vital part of the way we connect.
So what if your page disappeared?
Well, it's happening more often than you might think,
and there are plenty of ways to get kicked off Facebook.
News Channel 8's Natalie Shepard talked with three people about their experiences
and what it takes to get back online.
Facebook, the Ubiquitous website has become all things to lots of people.
Keep up with friends, do business, but people are finding out there are things you can't do on Facebook.
Big brothers watching.
We sat down with three different people, and for three very different reasons,
they all lost Facebook privileges.
For John Mickle, that means lost business.
I get a referral or a lead every day through Facebook, so when I'm not there,
I've got people asking, calling me and seeing me, why aren't you on Facebook?
Facebook suspended Mickle twice.
First, for the name on his page.
The name of my company is Dynamic Carpet Care, so everybody calls me Dynamic John.
So I had Dynamic John Mickle as my name.
Mickle says that's not allowed.
Then, he started adding more than 20 friends a day.
And Facebook apparently doesn't like that.
So now, he tries to follow the fine print.
I go by the rules and I bow down to the Facebook gods, as long as I can keep my account.
Rob Marinick's page disappeared without warning.
I just tried to log into my personal account one day and it was disabled.
And along with it, went the skatepark page.
Marinick runs the Facebook page with a skatepark of Tampa.
It has more than 40,000 fans.
He can only guess what got him kicked off.
Did they tell you what the violation was?
No, they won't go into detail on what was removed.
But he has a few ideas.
You can't have a sweepstakes or a contest that involves use of their system.
He used to promote giveaways on the skatepark page.
But he has learned that's a violation of Facebook rules.
And then, there are the girls in hot pants.
Apparently pictures like this aren't allowed either.
It took Rob two weeks and a lengthy email exchange with Facebook to get his page back online.
Has it changed in the way that you do things?
Yes, definitely.
Here's Lynn Marie Bolsey's Facebook page.
It's full of pictures like this from her fishing trips.
Some show her in a bikini and some don't.
Photos from a recent trip got her in trouble.
So I've got the fighting belt on. The top is off.
We're facing this way. Click, click, click.
Six foot barracuda. It's insane.
Within a day, she says Facebook sent her a warning and censored the picture.
The experience makes her a little more selective.
I wish they would have given me a reason.
And my biggest complaint is who reported it?
Do they have a picture person that's going through looking at pictures?
I just want to know where the rules are. What are the rules?
I contacted Facebook to ask about its rules and regulations.
I quickly received a stop response from its PR department listing all of Facebook's terms and conditions.
And as you can see, there is a lot of fine print.
Facebook says it aims to strike a balance between giving people freedom to express their viewpoints
and maintain a safe and trusted environment.
They want people to be able to be free and post whatever they want,
but they also want Facebook to be as clean as ordinary society is in public.
No matter what your privacy settings are, play by the rules.
In this social network, you never know who's watching.
I'm Natalie Shepard, News Channel 8.
It can take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks for people to get their profiles reinstated.
The best way to start the process is to send Facebook and email.
And those interviewed for this story say it's important to be polite.
That's in life in general, I would say.
Good luck, sir.
