I'M A FACEBOOK OUTCAST...AND WHO CARES?

A follow up to a previous post.

Facebook users around the world, including me, have been waking up to find themselves locked out of their accounts for no apparent reason.

The message many received reads: "Your Facebook account was disabled because it did not follow our Community Standards. This decision can't be reversed." There is no warning or explanation given.

Parent firm Meta said it has been investigating.

In a tweet, Meta's Andy Stone said: "We're aware that some users are experiencing issues accessing their Facebook accounts and we are working to resolve them as quickly as possible." He did not say how many were affected, or what the issue was, but it had to be in the thousands.

PR consultant Jen Roberts was one of those to find herself locked out of her account. She said "I haven't posted anything or commented for quite some time, so it's extremely unlikely that I've done anything that could be construed as offensive."

But, despite not being an avid user, finding her account locked was still upsetting: "All of the images from my university years and family occasions are on Facebook."I will no longer have access to 15-plus years of content, which is genuinely sad.

"It is also quite stressful not knowing what the issue is, and having no recourse to resolve it. To be given no warning and then no way to access our own data is mindboggling."

In my case, as an avid Facebook user for 20 years, I have been disabled twice and forced to establish a new account (Dick Wright initially and Richard (Dick) Wright the last time). In the process, I have lost access to a family group which I created and administered, including hundreds of photos and records that I contributed to other sites. Worst of all I have lost my only contact with several hundred friends and the ability to connect via word text (messaging) with any of them. Still, oddly enough, my profiles remain assessable to everyone but me. I'm completely closed out of Facebook. Period!

In spite of a previous notice on Wrights Lane explaining my dilemma and offering an alternative method of contacting me, no one has been concerned enough to respond which kind of tells me something.

Eventually, I frustratingly ran out of new pass words and the establishment of email accounts sufficient to sustain Facebook participation. In the end I simply gave up the ghost, life being as short and as precious as it is.

I am a Facebook outcast...and maybe it is in my best interest.

As I say, I don't know what I did wrong. Perhaps Facebook disliked my linking to religiously inspired posts on my Wrights Lane blog site...There is a distinct possibility too, that they think Richard (Dick) Wright stole the already blocked Dick Wright's identity. I see nothing in Facebook's "community standards" that I have been referred to that gives any semblance of a reasonably applicable suggestion and it is all beyond me.

While I have been left confused and detached, I readily acknowledge that the time I used to spend on Facebook is now better spent on the things in my life that really matter.

Old friends still matter, of course...but in lieu of telephone numbers, home addresses and email addresses I just have no way of contacting them. It is kind of like dying, socially speaking, or dropping off the face of the world.

And, in the end, who cares. Really!

No doubt that I am just one of countless other old souls that a scary world of algorithms and artificial intelligence is leaving behind in antiquity.

NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF CANADA RECOGNITION FOR A TALENTED SOUTHAMPTON PERCUSSIONIST

Ask mother, Sheri Selman what she thinks of the cultural musical community in Saugeen Shores and, she will … “want to shout from the rooftops”. The reason is her daughter, Rebecca a Gr. 11 student at Saugeen District Senior School (SDSS), has been accepted into one of the most prestigious youth bands in Canada.

Rebecca Selman

I am a keen observer of young people and I have watched "Becca" Selman growing up in Southampton since she was an infant in her father's arms visiting her mom Sheri when she was a counter clerk at the local Tim Hortons some 17 years ago. My perceptive instinct seemed to tell me that there was something uniquely different about the petite and out-going youngster (like mother, like daughter) when I occasionally came across her over the years...and as it turned out, I was right.

Becca has turned into an accomplished percussionist and is one of the newest and youngest members of The Georgian Bay Symphony Orchestra and, if that isn't enough, she has now been accepted into the Canadian Band Association 2022 National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Under the auspices of the CBA, The National Youth Band of Canada is a unique musical experience that provides Canada’s talented student musicians, ages 16-22, with an outstanding opportunity to perform and network with a renowned Canadian conductor, guest soloist and the country’s top young instrumentalists. Students from across Canada are united by their love of music, their desire to create a challenging concert program all within a positive atmosphere while creating lifelong friendships.

Wow, what an amazing opportunity for a deserving student!

Becca plays all percussion instruments including, Timpani, Drum kit, Xylophone, Snare, Bells, Cymbals and so much more. “She has the music in her heart and has worked so extremely hard for it all,” says mother Sheri who gives credit to her daughter's music teacher and mentors, all the while failing to acknowledge the parental support that is so vital in the development of an talented young musician.

Becca will also be joining the Festival Winds of Summer Music Camp that runs from July 18th to 22nd, in Saugeen Shores. I'll be one of the first in line for her next public concert.