Woman Locked Out Of Her Facebook Account Legally Changes Her Real Name To Her Pseudonym, Account Still Suspended
Who would’ve thought a pseudonym could create so much trouble?
Like other countless Facebook users, Jemma Rogers didn’t want to deal with the hassle of unwanted friend requests from strangers, old friends, and nosy family members on her Facebook page.
So when the 30-year-old decided in 2008 to create a Facebook account, she thought it would be better to use a pseudonym. Her choice of name? The silly sounding but catchy Jemmaroid Von Laalaa.
Jemmaroid Von LaaLaa of the UK went to extremes to log into Facebook http://t.co/Y1GUl6MUfz pic.twitter.com/rgaflxdm6r
— Newser (@Newser) July 14, 2015
Using a pseudonym on Facebook isn’t unheard of, but the practice is technically against the social media site’s terms of use. Facebook’s help center clearly states that they “require people to provide the name they use in real life” as a way to help keep the community safe. There was also a reminder that “the name you use should be your authentic identity; as your friends call you in real life and as our acceptable identification forms would show.”
This particular rule proved to be Rogers undoing as Facebook asked her last month to send identification that proves she is Jemmaroid Von Laalaa.
In a panic, Rogers made a bad situation even worse by photoshopping her bank cards and sending the fake photo to Facebook as proof. The social networking site didn’t buy it and suspended her account the following day.
The Londoner decided to come clean so she emailed Facebook, explained her situation and sent over her real ID. She even begged the site to let her back in her account but to no avail.
And since desperate times call for desperate measures, Rogers decided to legally change her name to Jemmaroid Von Laalaa in a bid to get back her Facebook account. She even got a new driver’s license and bank cards under her new name but it was all for naught as the only reply she has gotten from Facebook so far is an automated response that told her they will “look into” the situation.
The situation has placed a large amount of stress on Von Laalaa, especially since she still can’t access her Facebook account even after sacrificing her name to a “ridiculous” pseudonym.
Von Laalaa admits that she has “been a complete moron” but decries Facebook’s ridiculousness and says the site “should be able to tell it’s a genuine account but just under a fake name.”
“I’ve been locked out of my account for five weeks now and have lost all of my photos, messages and precious memories,” Von Laalaa said.
The holistic therapist also pointed out that other people also used pseudonyms, some as a way of protecting themselves from abusers and cyber bullies.
It’s a valid point, and one that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed before when the site’s real name policy affected members from the transgender and LGBT community.
According to Zuckerberg, a person’s real name is “whatever you go by and what your friends call you.” He also added that “if your friends all call you by a nickname and you want to use that name on Facebook, you should be able to do that.”
But whether this helps Von Laalaa get her name or her Facebook account back still remains to be seen.
[Image via YouTube]
