Social networks, in particular Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, the most used in Italy and the emerging Google+, allow free and easy but not unconditional registration. There are in fact behavioral rules that many users completely ignore and the violation of which can lead to ban from the social network, sometimes without any explanation.
There are many cases of accounts banned and suspended by Facebook or users deleted from Google+ for not having used the real name.
The problem is not only that nobody reads the TOS (terms of service) of Facebook or Twitter but also that each social network has different rules and, often, a behavior is considered acceptable in one, but it is not allowed in the other.
So let's see the differences in the rules of the various social networks, on what can be done and what not to avoid being banned .
1) Facebook only has one page for the TOS with the Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities.
To stay in order, however, you should also be informed about the rules on the use of data and guidelines on promotions.
2) Twitter has the page on the terms of service, but above all the rules of Twitter on the abuse of spam and the advice to report or block offensive users are important.
Twitter recently said it could filter content at the request of country authorities, which was not the case before.
3) LinkedIn has a clear and detailed user agreement, perhaps the simplest of these social networks.
Without going to read every detail of the various official documents and trying to make a global summary, let's see which activities are allowed and which are not.
Of course, on all social networks it is never allowed :
- threaten or insult other users.
- publish sexually explicit or gambling content.
- promote dangerous and illegal activities.
- transmit viruses and malware.
- send spam.
- buy votes or "like" or solicit them in any other way.
- use software to automate the sharing of content through the newtork (except for official or authorized programs, or that correctly use the API of the official service).
- pretend to be another person.
Other activities may be allowed in some and not in others and we can make the following summary:
- Even if you cannot pretend to be another person, you can register a profile with a pseudonym in Facebook, Twitter and Google+, without therefore using your real name. This is absolutely not allowed in Linkedin which requires registration with real name and surname.
- A user can manage multiple different accounts and with different names only in Google+ and Twitter as long as they are not identical or overlapping.
On Facebook and Linkedin, the creation of multiple profiles of the same person is not allowed.
- Using another person 's account is allowed, if authorized, on Google+ and Twitter, not on Facebook and Linkedin.
- There are no rules for the profile photo on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ while Linkedin instead requires a recognizable photo of himself.
- Twitter is the only one who mentions the fate of inactive accounts that can be removed after 6 months.
- A profile cannot be that of a business or a company on Google+ (which has the appropriate Business pages) and on Linkedin where each profile must necessarily be a real person.
On Facebook it is not mentioned but you cannot create a business profile or something that is not a person also because there are fan pages for that.
- A profile cannot earn money by publishing paid information or by selling products, on Facebook and on Linkedin.
In Twitter and Google+ this is not mentioned.
- The age limit is on Facebook which does not allow registration to presona under the age of 13 and on Linkedin (18 years).
- The sale of the account is regulated only on Twitter where authorization must be requested.
- Finally, the Facebook rule that makes it impossible to register again after a ban is interesting, without requiring permission.
In general , spam is not allowed but the social networks taken into consideration here make distinctions and interpret the concept of spam differently.
All except Twitter prevent the dissemination of promotional or publicity advertisements unless authorized.
Google+, Twitter and Linkedin prohibit adding friends too quickly.
Curiously, on Facebook's TOS there is nothing about it even if, by trying to add many friends together, you receive a warning and the account is temporarily blocked.
Even by learning TOS by heart, you can't be sure that your account will stay alive forever. This is because the rules can change overnight and what is allowed today may not be tomorrow. To interpret certain rules then a legal expert would be needed for their vagueness.
For example, Facebook prevents the publication of content that contains nudity or free violence but the controversy was great when the photos of an innocent kiss between two men or a mother breastfeeding her son were removed. Spam then remains difficult to interpret: it may be that you insist too much on inviting your friends to an event and, therefore, be reported as a spammer.
This is the problem of any social network: some users consider perfectly normal things that others consider intrusive and self-promotional.
On the other hand, in general, if no one is offended, one should not be banned and, even in cases of account suspension, one can always request reconsideration to reactivate it.
