So I’m in the middle of creating a new Facebook album with a bunch of photos of friends that I promised to upload since last week, and right when I’m saving the entire album, I get this:

Hang on, let’s get a closer look at that:

So it’s a real scratch-my-head, what-the-heck-just-happened moment, but I’m cool. I hit a new Firefox tab and google “Facebook site maintenance” and guess what? I get a whole bunch of links to a whole bunch of sites with a whole bunch of comments from upset Facebookers who’ve lost access to their Facebook accounts (“upset” being the understated adjective that covers an entire range of emotions from confused to terrified-of-hackers to distressed-over-losing-stuff-from-FB-games to rabid frantic and freaking-out users).

Funnily, these links lead me to threads and blogposts that confirm the existence of this strange occurrence from as far back as 2009 (or even earlier: I didn’t stop to check the dates beyond 2009 because, really, 2 years ago this was happening and it’s still going on today? That’s pretty much long enough for me). Reading thread after thread, comment after comment, I start to see some common factors:

1. Facebook’s deprivation of your access “due to site maintenance” is like a creepy guy hiding behind a dark corner who pounces on you when you least expect it. You could be in the middle of something and bam~it hits you from left field and you’re down and out.
2. Facebook’s definition of “few hours” is relative: it could be anywhere from 3 hours to months and months of “not existing” on the site.
3. “Lost” Facebookers have had no luck in contacting customer service to get a satisfying explanation for the sudden demise of their account (or even whether it’s a temporary thing or a temporary-but-feels-like-permanent thing). * NOTE: I was able to access a link that leads you to new tab that allows you to report your “issue” with Facebook, which I suspect is an improvement from 2009 when there were a lot of freaked-out users running around frantically without any idea of whom to run to or where. Having said that, the more recent posts and threads seem to suggest that there’s *still* no telling whether anyone from Facebook will get back to you or not).
4. The answer to the question, When can I access my Facebook account? is the same as the answer to When will site maintenance get its act together so my Facebook life can return to normal?  – And that answer would be this: Your guess is as good as mine, baby.
5. The answer to the question, Is there anything I can possibly do to fix this? is the same one for #5. (Guessing games, here we come!) Some people have tried clearing their cache and cookies, restarting, waiting 3 hours, waiting a week – and a few get it back after 3 hours, others get it back after a week, some after 15 days, and some… well. Who knows if they ever got it back? (There were a lot of hanging unresolved threads, so again, it’s a guessing game).

To shed some light on this confounding thing, I asked my sons (who, by the way, have no problems with their Facebook accounts) to check if I’m “alive” on Facebook and they said they can’t find me on there. LOL. So looks like for now I’m on Facebook limbo.

Oh well. Patience is a virtue, they say. Guess there’s nothing much to do about it except wait and hope that I get my Facebook life back, hopefully, within the next 3 hours. I’m not freaking out at the moment. Thankfully, because I’ve never played games on FB, I don’t have to worry about whether my crops will die or anything like that. I have many friends who do play games, and I totally get how devastating it can be to work hard at getting scores and then face the threat of losing all that hard work. For me, though, Facebook is primarily a great way to keep communication lines open with my friends all over the globe. So do I feel a sense of loss somehow? Am I bothered that I’m floating in limbo right now without any reassurance of when I’ll get back on there? Yep, you could say that. I do so enjoy the ability to instantly bridge the miles and oceans that separate me and my friends (you too! :D) across the globe.

But does this no-Facebook-access eat me up so that my nails are chewed halfway to my knuckles and my hair’s starting to turn frizzy and my arms and legs are experiencing an intense itch to start climbing on walls? No, thank goodness, not yet, no. Only the total loss of net access has had the ability to elicit that kind of nutty behavior from me. 😉

So why am I posting about this? Because my curiosity has been incredibly aroused and I’m hoping you could indulge me by letting me know:

Do you use Facebook? Have you ever experienced this phenomenon of losing access due to site maintenance? Did you get it back and how long did it take before you got it back? And if the answer to all of the above is yes, was everything in your resurrected account intact?

Was your sanity intact?

LOL. Seriously. This is so surreal, losing Facebook access. Thank heavens for blogs, huh? At least we’re in touch. 🙂 xoxox

PS.

Be my guest, Facebook. Do help me. Make my day, buddy. 🙂