What is in a Name?

"Manipulative people do not understand
the concept of boundaries.
They are relentless in their pursuit of what they want
and they have no regard for who gets hurt along the way."
~ Lifehack

A couple of days ago, I got a message from Facebook that I had to confirm my name.

They required that I upload various documents to confirm my ID. Although they say; "The name you use on Facebook doesn't have to be the name on your government-issued IDs.", they seem to have an issue (after eight years) with my name, Sandy Sandy. They also state; "We understand that the name you use in everyday life might be different from your legal name. We want you to be able to use the name you most identify with on your Facebook profile." So far I have sent them a copy of my driver's license with my legal name, Sandra Sandy, and 6 other scans of documents with my "everyday" name SANDY SANDY. They are supposedly reviewing my documents and all my facebook accounts are still locked - my art page, my studio page and groups I administer. I am unable to get onto facebook at all and I really feel like I am being harassed. 

The information I found on the web states that "As it stands, the authentic name policy too often is used as a tool of harassment, and Facebook continues allowing that to happen.
The fake name reporting process is opaque and imperfect. Facebook has said it does not use algorithms to crawl through usernames and instead relies on snitches. When an account is flagged, the company says a real person with two thumbs looks into the report and decides whether to lock the account and request documents. Unfortunately, this means a lot of legitimate, legal names often end up flagged. What Facebook has done is create a system that forces compliance or isolation. And worst of all, it places the power with harassers—as if the Internet needed more of that." ~ Nadia Drake

I can only hope the issue will be resolved soon. It is a shock to be the victim of such a malicious act where over eight years of building online friendships and relationships can be destroyed overnight. I don't know if this was just a random act of cruelty or some kind of "throw a major roadblock up to my art career" kind of jealousy. I'm hoping it was random.

So beware, because just about anybody is at risk! Any enemies known or otherwise could change your Facebook presence overnight. Although Facebook is "free" I may now be paying for using it, big time.

A Rainbow of Love • Sold

Thanks so much for your friendship and please wish me luck.

X ♥  O