For the second time in a month, facebook's censor-drones have disabled my account on the grounds that it is 'fake'. The first time, I grant you, my name had inadvertently been changed to 'Tom Long John Silver', which does sound a little bit suspect. However, now they've got no good reason to do this.
The rule is enforced so that 'people's profiles are a genuine reflection of who they are offline'. So why am I told that I am not permitted to go online under my offline name? Should I use an actual fake name so that I can avoid facebook's meddling? No, because I hate irony. And because nobody would know who I am. And that would be stupid.
My response to facebook is as clear as I can make it:
Real first name: Tom
Real surname: Long
Compare this with the name on my profile: "Tom Long". Notice how similar they are?
