My friends, please remember that Bill’s Bible Basics is not, and has never been, a debate forum. It is simply the avenue where I share my personal Christian beliefs. Whether or not someone chooses to agree with my views is entirely up to them. However, I will not waste my time with fruitless debates. I am too busy doing the Lord’s Work. We each must believe according to our personal faith, and sometimes the best route to take is to agree to disagree, and leave it at that. As the Apostle Paul wisely wrote:
“. . . Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Romans 14:5, KJV
As such, while you may be tempted to do so, when commenting on my posts on the social networks, please refrain from divisive issues which may inflame others’ passions. Too often, such topics can lead to heated exchanges which profit no one. Thank you for your consideration. If you would like to further explore my position regarding doctrinal debates, please consider reading the following two articles:
Article: “Humility in Our Understanding of God’s Word”:
It may surprise some of you to know that when I am on my iMac, I very rarely ever go to my Facebook news feed. Whenever I open Facebook in Firefox, I always go directly to my timeline instead, which I have bookmarked. It seems that with the Facebook app on my iPhone, I don’t have this option. Upon launching it, the app takes me directly to my news feed whether I like it or not.
So why do I choose to go to my timeline instead of to my news feed? Basically, because more often than not, the news feed is full of all kinds of junk in which I am not the least bit interested.
The very worst has to be all of the political garbage. Even some of my Christian friends do it. People — including some Christians — take sides, and then they do everything they can to support the politicians who they like, and to blast and condemn the politicians who they don’t like. I mean, the political gossip, rumors and accusations is as thick as stew. It is unending. I am sorry folks, but I really don’t need that in my news feed. I get enough of that kind of nonsense in the daily news bundles which are downloaded to my email client.
Then there are those people who spend a lot of their time attacking or defending certain popular preachers in the news feed. Personally, while I do expose the errors of a few popular preachers in some of my older articles, for the most part, I strive to stay out of those kinds of discussions, particularly when they are occurring online. As I explain in the following KJV Bible verse list, I believe that we should each abide in our own calling, and leave the ministries of others to be sorted out by the Lord. If they are in error, or false prophets, God will expose them at length:
So as I said, I am sorry, but I am not interested in reading that kind of stuff in my news feed.
Then, of course, there are all of the conspiracy theorists with their often off-the-wall ideas, rumors and links to questionable websites, many of which contain bogus info and fake news. I have spoken about this before, and have even made some graphics concerning this topic. So again, no thanks, but I’ll pass on this kind of stuff in my news feed. I just don’t need it.
As if all of the above is not enough to turn me off to the Facebook news feed, then there are all of the posts regarding the latest styles in clothing, ads for make-up, the latest celeb gossip, the coolest apps, etc. Again, I am sorry, but I am not the least bit interested in those kinds of things.
Now, I know a lot of you enjoy posting images of your beloved pets. Believe me; I understand that. I am an animal and nature lover too. I have had pets of one sort or another since I was a young boy. Occasionally, I will share photos or short videos of my two cats, Polo and Eljio. But for the most part, while your cute pet images and videos are often very adorable, nevertheless, I can do without being overwhelmed by dozens of them in my news feed as well. Sorry.
I realize that what each person puts on their timeline is a very personal decision. Your timeline is yours to do with as you please, and that is indeed your right, regardless of what anyone else thinks or says. If you want to fill it up with pics and videos of your family and relatives, or with any of the other things which I previously mentioned, that is your choice.
However, at the same time, please understand that, personally, the bottom line for me is this: I primarily joined Facebook so that I can use it as an outlet to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s it. In fact, that is why I purchased my very first computer so many years ago. I look at my computer, and social networks, as tools to share the Good News of Salvation and other related topics.
Now, considering that most, if not all, of my FB friends are Christians, I would assume that they are also interested in sharing the Gospel with other people on Facebook as well. Sadly, I must confess that I am both amazed and disappointed by the amount of worthless junk in my news feed; much of which is generated by my Christian friends. Yes, there is some Christian content by a small number of my friends. However, having to wade through all of the crap in order to find the good content is just not worth my time. So, as a result, I will mainly stick to just posting on my timeline, and I will stay away from my news feed as much as possible.
Look at it this way. At least when you visit my timeline, you will know exactly what you will find there: Plenty of God’s Word. And it won’t include any of the aforementioned worthless junk. I post some humorous stuff now and then, and as I said, sometimes cat photos, but for the most part, you will find good Christian content which will feed, inspire and motivate you. I hope that I am a blessing to you.
Dear friends, as many of you will already know, for many years now, I have encouraged my Facebook friends to share my work. I have likewise made the rules for sharing my work very clear for many years now as well.
But for those of you who may not be aware of my particular sharing rules, because you are a new friend, or perhaps because you have simply forgotten them, allow me to share the following with you for your clarification:
1. If you wish to share my images, KJV Bible Verse Lists, poetry or BBB article announcements, then you must do it the HONEST and PROPER way by using the “Share” link or button ONLY. On Facebook, for example, you will find it located next to or underneath each image or text message that I post. I think it depends on what kind of computer or mobile device you are using.
2. Please do NOT download my images from my Facebook timeline, or from any of my albums, or from any other social networks or online sources, and then re-upload them to your own timeline or Facebook page or albums.
There are some very specific reasons regarding why I request that my work ONLY be shared the PROPER way. That is, via the “Share” link or button.
a. –> It ensures that there is a link back to my Facebook timeline, or else back to an actual page on the Bill’s Bible Basics website or blog. In my view, when people break that link back to the place of origin, it is not fair — and it is dishonest — considering how many thousands of hours I have invested in creating my currently 5,000+ graphics over the years. Please understand that this is NOT just about giving credit to whom credit is due — as some people seem to think — as I more fully explain in the following points below.
b. –> It ensures that all of my BBB article links and KJV Bible Verse Lists links are properly transferred to your Facebook timeline or page, if there are any listed with my post. As I have mentioned many times before, please understand that my graphics are just the icing on the cake, to lead my friends and followers to a deeper study of God’s Word, by following the links that I provide with each image. In short, if you download my graphics, and then re-upload my images to your own Facebook timeline, page or album, or to some other social network in which you personally participate, then any links I provide with my posts will be lost, and your friends will lose the advantage of the deeper Word studies which I provide with each of my images.
c. –> I sometimes update my graphics and make better, improved versions of them. If you download and then re-upload my images to your own Facebook timeline, page or album, or to some other social network, you will keep older versions of my graphics in circulation, which I obviously do not want to happen. Also, as I just said, by doing that, you also break any associated links I may have included with the graphic.
Some people seem to think that uploading my images to their own albums is okay, because all of my images contain my website URL. However, the truth is that we have all grown lazy, and most folks will not take the time to manually type out a URL they see in an image. They prefer easily-accessible, clickable links. Not only that, but unless the graphic is an ad for one of my articles or series, the URL that is on the graphic will only take them to the main page of my website. It will not take them to the actual graphic where they will find article and KJV Bible Verse List links which are directly related to the graphic in question.
But there is more. Many of my older graphics display my OLD website domain name. That is, endtimeprophecy .net. For those of you who may not know, I owned that domain name — as well as endtimeprophecy .org — for sixteen years. However, for reasons which I explain in articles such as “Tradition or Truth? Old Wine or New Wine?”, I relinquished ownership of those two domain names a number of years ago, and have since been using billkochman.com as my only website URL, and Bill’s Bible Basics as my only website name.
However, the problem is that after I gave up ownership of endtimeprophecy .net, some unscrupulous individual — or possibly a group of individuals — bought up the EPN domain name, and for years now has been using the name Endtime Prophecy Net, and the URL endtimeprophecy .net, to sneakily lure people to a website which advertises a hotel chain. On the top of the page, it looks like a very old version of my Endtime Prophecy Net website, but none of the links work. But on the bottom of the page, they have listed a pile of links for their hotel chain. As I mention in the aforementioned article, my efforts to get them to stop such dishonest behavior failed.
So, the point is this: If you have any of my older graphics in your online albums, and if those older graphics still happen to have “endtimeprophecy .net” on them instead of “billkochman.com”, whether you realize it or not, you are directing your online friends to a bogus website which has absolutely nothing to do with our Christian faith.
Sadly, I know for a fact that this is still happening, because even as recently as last week, I have seen some of my older images floating around on Facebook with my old domain name on them. So that is another good reason why you should only be using the “Share” link or button to share my graphics. That way, you can be sure that you are sharing the latest versions of said images. That is, if you are getting them from my BBB website, from my BBB Blog, or from one of the eight social networks in which I currently participate.
To reiterate, if you come across any of my graphics online which still have “endtimeprophecy .net” on them, please do not share them. Thank you!
Be Honest! Please Don’t Cheat, Alter or Steal!
Sadly, as some of you will know, for years now, some people — other Christians, no less — have used my images in ways in which I do not approve. I freely offer my graphics to all of my online friends. All I ask in return is that you have the decency to NOT alter them in any way — particularly by not removing my name and website URL from them, or by chopping them up and using parts of them — and that you share them the PROPER way, by using the “Share” link or button. Please don’t rob others of the blessing of this vast treasure of God’s Word, by stealing and altering my graphics, so that people cannot find my timeline, or the Bill’s Bible Basics website, or the Bill’s Bible Basics Blog. If you are going to share them, share the originals exactly as I create them, and use the “Share” link or button.
Now, if you are not willing to follow the previous simple rules — which should be easy to do for any honest Christian — then please do NOT share my graphics at all. I am very serious about this. Some of you have no idea how long and hard I have worked at this ministry for so many years. I am not a spring chicken anymore. Despite the fact that I am growing old, I still work long hours here, and this ministry has taken a serious toll on my health, particularly on my eyes, back, lungs, head and stomach. In recent years I have gotten DVT — Deep Vein Thrombosis/blood clots — twice because of it, as well as Acute Bilateral Pulmonary Emboli — blood clots in all four nodes of my lungs — and have been hospitalized for sixteen days total, due to the long hours I sit here working on this ministry. So please, show some respect by following the rules.
Thank you in advance for your honesty! GBY for respecting my wishes. And thank you for sharing my work. I really appreciate it. There is only so much that I can do to get it out to as many people as possible. So your assistance by honestly sharing my work is a real blessing to me, as well as to others.
Friends, if you happen to encounter a broken HTML link in one of my posts, so that you are unable to visit a certain page or blog post on the Bill’s Bible Basics website, please don’t just ignore it and pass it by. Please take a minute to leave me a short comment so that I realize that the broken link needs to be fixed on my end. Unless someone tells me, I may not even know that a particular link is broken. The truth is that I keep very busy with the BBB ministry, and I work long hours, sometimes to the point where my eyes get blurry and I miss things. So, your help is appreciated. Thanks so much!
Every now and then, some of my Facebook friends will send me a private text message, or else post a comment under one of my graphics, in which they will say something like “Glad to see you are back, Bill!”
For a long while after I first joined Facebook, these types of comments used to puzzle me. That is, until I slowly figured out what was really going on. Now, not quite nine years later, I believe I better understand how Facebook works, and I would like to share my personal deductions — theories? — with you, based on my observations.
Over the past fourteen years, while there have been times when I have been less active on Facebook for a few weeks, or even seem to have disappeared altogether for a few days, due to personal health issues, the truth is that, for the most part, I have always been here. Even during the times when I don’t post a lot because I am feeling crappy, I still try to keep up-to-date on Facebook notifications regarding new friend requests, likes, post comments, etc.
So why is it that some folks get the impression that I have left Facebook, either temporarily, or even permanently?
Well, friends, it all comes down to the Facebook news feed. People make the assumption that I have left Facebook — or that I am at least temporarily out of commission — because they are seeing very little of my content in their news feed. But is this assumption correct? Not necessarily so.
So here is what I have discovered from my time on Facebook, and from observing my Facebook friends’ activities.
The first thing you need to understand is that Facebook is all about engagement. Facebook not only wants you to be active on your own timeline or page, but they also want you to like, comment on and share your friends’ posts. Why? Because the more you do these things, the better profile they can create of you. In other words, they can form a better picture of your personal online world.
Don’t ever forget that Facebook — and all other social networks — is not just about people around the world happily making friends with each other. It is really about personal data mining. That is, collecting information about you, and then doing who-knows-what with that information. Do we really want to know?
So what happens if you don’t do the aforementioned things? Well, my impression is that if you don’t frequently like, comment on and share a person’s posts, the Facebook algorithm interprets this as meaning you don’t have much interest in that person. As a result, that friend’s content slowly disappears from your news feed, giving you the false impression that they are no longer posting, or have left Facebook altogether. That is exactly what some of my friends have thought about me.
But there is more. As I thought on this further, I began to suspect that not all user actions have the same weight when it comes to Facebook’s algorithm. While I cannot conclusively prove it — because Facebook is so secretive regarding its algorithm — I don’t think that liking a post has as much weight as leaving a comment under a post. Furthermore, I don’t think that commenting on a friend’s post has as much weight as sharing their post on your own timeline.
As I said, Facebook is all about engagement. Liking a post involves the least amount of engagement — or time — so it has the least amount of weight of the three. Commenting on a friend’s post requires a little more investment of your time. So, I think it has more weight than just liking their post. And, of course, if you share that friend’s post on your own timeline, that requires even more of your time, and demonstrates a real interest in that person’s content. Thus, I think that sharing carries the most weight of the three.
In short, the more interest you show in a friend’s posts — expressed by which of the three actions you take — the more weight it carries. Facebook’s algorithm will then measure your level of interest in a particular friend based on the weight of your actions, and then determine how much of their content to display in your news feed accordingly.
So, while liking a friend’s posts may possibly increase the amount of their content that you see in your news feed, commenting on their posts may even better serve that purpose, and actually sharing their content on your own timeline will best serve that purpose, because it demonstrates your serious interest in their posts.
As I said, this is all personal deduction and theory, but it seems to make sense to me. What do you think?
Of course, no one really understands Facebook’s algorithm, except Facebook themselves. Please keep in mind that no matter how much you engage in the aforementioned three actions, you are still never going to see all of a friend’s posts in your news feed. It is simply physically and electronically impossible for Facebook’s servers to do that, and most certainly not for all of your friends. Facebook’s servers — no matter how powerful they are — would probably bog down very quickly, similar to a DDOS– Distributed Denial of Service — attack where things come to an absolute crawl.
I suspect that the way the Facebook algorithm may work, is that as it determines your level of interest in a friend’s posts — based on the weight you have generated for that person — it will give that friend’s posts priority over other posts by other people in your news feed. So, perhaps you may not necessarily see more of that friend’s posts, but what you do see, you may see more frequently. I honestly don’t know for sure how it works. You will just have to experiment and find out.
In conclusion, if you want to see more of my content in your news feed, then you need to engage more with it. While liking my posts may help in this regard, commenting on my posts, and sharing them on your own timeline will probably help even more. Why don’t you give it a try and see if it is true?
I hope you have found the above enlightening and beneficial.
Folks, unless you happen to be one of my longtime Facebook friends — meaning that we have been friends for many years — who I have grown to trust, and unless you have a very IMPORTANT issue to discuss with me as one of my longtime friends, please have the courtesy to NOT private message me.
For the record, I did NOT join Facebook so that I can engage in private text messages. I joined it so that I can share the Christian Gospel in an open, PUBLIC forum; meaning on my timeline. If you are really interested in the Word of God, then please visit my timeline.
The way I see it, if something can’t be said out in the open, in public, on Facebook, then maybe it shouldn’t be said at all.
If your true interest is God’s Word, then please consider taking some time to visit my actual Bill’s Bible Basics website at:
Trust me when I say that you will find a lot more there than you will on any of my Facebook pages.
The truth is that aside from the fact that I keep rather busy here working on the Bill’s Bible Basics ministry, I get way too many private chat requests from people in African and Asian countries who have ulterior motives.
I am sure that many of you reading this know exactly what I am talking about. Such people will start an innocuous-sounding conversation with a “Hello” or an “Are you there?”, or some similar opening. After that, they will try to engage in a simple, casual conversation in their broken English for a while.
But then, they finally reveal why they are really texting you. It is not because they are really interested in being your friend and having Christian fellowship with you. It is that they have this mistaken idea that all Americans are just loaded with money, and they are hoping that you will help them out.
Trust me when I say that over the years, I have heard it all on Facebook. They want money to purchase school books. Their husband died, and now they are out on the street living with their kids. They have an orphanage full of starving children. They need money to build their church. Their children have no clothes to wear. They need Bibles for their congregants. And on and on it goes.
As I said, I’ve heard it all. It’s possible that some of these stories may be true; but I am inclined to believe that many of them are bogus, because I have caught some of these people in their deception.
The bottom line is this: I am not a rich American. I am old and retired, and I live on a fixed income. My gosh, I don’t even own a car. So I am really sorry, but even if your needs are real, I simply cannot help you.
Then, of course, there are those women who seem to think that I would make a fine, Christian husband. Sorry, ladies, I mean no offense to you, but I am not interested, so please desist.
There are also some well-meaning friends who constantly send me video links, news article links, links to petitions to sign, announcements regarding their new book, chain messages, etc.
Folks, as I have mentioned many times before, it is my personal policy to NOT click or tap on any photos or links which are contained in private messages. Doing so is dangerous business, and it is risky. One never knows what might be happening in the background when you do that. You may end up embarrassing yourself.
So I am sorry if it may offend some of of you, but I don’t care who you are, or how long I have known you. I will NOT click or tap on your photos or links. Neither will I forward ridiculous chain messages. So please stop.
Now if you choose to persist in sending me unwanted text messages, I will set you to “Ignore messages”; and if you really annoy me with your persistence, I may even unfriend you. I am serious.
To those of you who respect my wishes, thank you for your consideration and cooperation! I appreciate it.
Oft times, we make a post in the heat of the moment on some particular social network. Then, some time later, we have second thoughts, and we decide to remove/delete that post for whatever our reasons.
In this particular case, I am using Facebook as an example, because I am certain that what I am stating here is true.
While removing that post may give us some peace of mind, it is also giving us a false sense of security. Why? Because while we may have hit the “Delete” button and removed that post or image from our timeline, page, group or album, that does NOT mean that it is really gone.
The fact of the matter is that even after you delete a post, Facebook STILL has a copy of it stored on their CDN servers somewhere around the world. And, as far as I know, they will keep it for as long as they want. In other words, it is my belief that they keep a FULL RECORD of everything we have ever posted on their platform.
I never really thought about this until this morning. There have been times over the past twelve years when I have deleted all images from my Facebook albums for one reason or another. However, while neither I or my friends can see them there after I delete them, this is no guarantee that Facebook doesn’t have them stored on their servers.
Perhaps I am wrong, but in my view, this is the only way in which Facebook can bring up our memories from years ago — even after we have deleted a post or graphic — and ask us if we want to share that post with our friends on our timeline, or in our story.
It makes perfect sense to me. What do YOU think?
You might also be interested in reading this Bill’s Bible Basics article:
NOTE: Please note that as of September 2022, I no longer run a Facebook page or a Facebook group. I only operate a timeline. Also, since writing the commentary below, I have determined that Facebook has had me shadow banned since November of 2017. That basically means that most of my posts receive zero likes, zero comments, and zero shares
If you manage a Facebook page — not a timeline, but a page — some of you will have undoubtedly noticed that for some time now — possibly for months or longer — your page has seen a sharp decline in the number of views it has received, and each post has reached less and less people.
Well, you are not alone. I can confirm that this is indeed fact, and not just fiction or rumor, and that it has been going on for quite some time now, at least in my case. When it began happening to me in 2017 with my page — Bill’s Bible Basics — I noticed the decline immediately, because it was definitely not normal.
As many of you will already know, the vast number of my status updates are graphic intensive. As a result, they tend to draw a lot of viewers on my page . . . at least they used to. Not any more, and it is quite disheartening to the point where I wonder, “Why even bother?”
So here are the facts to prove my point. If I scroll down my Bill’s Bible Basics page to August 2017 and earlier, it was normal for many of my posts to reach hundreds of people each, anywhere from the low hundreds to the high hundreds.
I only scrolled back as far as April 2017, because I got tired of scrolling, but hundreds of people reached per image posted was definitely the norm, without exaggeration. Yes, there were some that didn’t reach that high, but they were the exception to the rule.
In fact, there were some stretches in mid-August 2017 where I was reaching 1,000 to 5,000+ people per post on my page. But that is not all. It got even better than that from late August to about mid-September of 2017. Many posts reached 5,000, 13,000, 15,000, 17,000, all the way up to 56,000 people reached from one single post alone. Boy was I happy then! And this was without paying for any kind of Facebook advertising.
Then, for no apparent reason, for a few days during the last week of September of 2017, the views per post — or post reach — suddenly dropped back down to the 100s. This was a sharp change from one day to the next. Just like that.
Up to the beginning of November 2017, I continued to see a lot of posts which reached hundreds of people, but there were also suddenly many which only reached two, three or four dozen people. Yet another mysterious drop.
Then, on November 9, 2017, it was like I hit rock bottom. Many of my posts were only reaching one to four dozen people on average. Of course, there were some exceptions where I was getting better results, but nothing like what I was seeing from August 2017 and earlier. Not even close.
By late November 2017, the new norm had set it, and it has been rather disheartening, because it has continued to this very day. On average, each of my page posts now reaches only one or two dozen people. Some don’t even reach a dozen people. Again, there are some exceptions, but even those few exceptions rarely reach up to 100 people.
What I have just related to you is an accurate, factual account of what happened on my Bill’s Bible Basics Facebook page, without exaggeration. From comments I have read here and there, I know that some of my friends are experiencing the very same thing, although I don’t know to what degree.
So what is going on? How could I go from reaching many thousands of people, or at least many hundreds of people per page post, to just a few dozen or less in a period of six months?
Considering how sporadic and abrupt these drops were, my first impression was that it was due to Facebook tinkering with some of their algorithms. Being as I don’t work for Facebook, I obviously don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. I don’t know the whys and wherefores. I can only make guesses at best, or at worst, offer personal theories which may border on conspiracy.
One possibility is that Facebook’s servers are under such a load now due to supposedly having two billion users worldwide, that they were forced to reduce the load by implementing more strict algorithms so that each account or page receives less visitor traffic. This would be a practical thing to do in order to extend their bandwidth. But this is me being benign to Facebook.
However, my conspiratorial side leans more towards believing that this drop in our page views may have more to do with money and the profit margin, and Facebook’s “class system”, for lack of a better term.
I have mentioned before that insofar as the Facebook hierarchy is concerned, timelines appear to be pretty much at the bottom of the barrel. After all, they are free to create, and I imagine that they don’t generate a lot of profit for Facebook, if any at all.
In my view, the harsh truth is probably that Facebook treats its commercial users a lot better than us “peons” who run timelines. Yes, Facebook mines our personal data on our timelines, but they are equally interested in making money. In other words, when changes are made to Facebook’s filters and algorithms, preference is probably given to paying customers so that they reap the best advantage, while the rest of us suffer. That is just the financial model of worldly businesses, and there isn’t much that we can do about it.
Having said that, I would think that Facebook pages are a step up in the hierarchy from Facebook timelines. While pages are also free to operate, they undoubtedly generate more revenue for Facebook, because Facebook is constantly enticing page owners to invest in ads in order to increase their exposure on Facebook.
Many of you fellow page owners will know exactly what I am talking about. Facebook is constantly trying to get us to use the old credit card. Personally, I tried advertising on Facebook a few times. However, it was such a dismal failure with only short-term gains in page views and readership, that I have resisted the temptation since then. For those of you who may be considering running ads on Facebook, let me just say this: You need to recognize the risk, and you need to realize that Facebook makes no solid promises regarding what will happen if one does pay for an ad. They use very general language like “you could reach as many as”. They are very careful about how they phrase things. Have you noticed?
I am sorry, but that is not enough for me; which is why I now view the whole Facebook ad thing as a scam, and thus stay clear of it. But you see, my conspiratorial side tells me that this may be precisely why my page views and post reach began to drop so sharply during the last half of 2017.
In other words, what if — yes, I said what if — when we first start a page, we are under sort of a grace period. We are all excited about having our first page, and so Facebook goes light with us. There is not too much pressure at first to purchase ads. They want us to enjoy the moment for a while. It would be a smart move on their part, wouldn’t it?
However, as time goes on, and they determine that we are not taking the ad bait — which means that they are not earning any money from our page — they decide “Okay, this guy has had a free ride long enough.” So, little by little, as the months pass, they begin to restrict the degree of our outreach and exposure. In short, over time, our page views and post reach begins to drop, until finally, our post reach per week is almost always in the red, and rarely ever shows a positive value.
As I said, it is just a personal theory on my part. I cannot prove it one way or the other. So please take it for what it is. All I know for certain is that my post reach dropped drastically during the last half of 2017 to all-time lows, and it has remained there ever since. Obviously, I am not happy about it. That is why I began to spend a lot more time on my timeline, and in the Bill’s Bible Basics Facebook group. At least in those two places, some of my friends interact with me to some degree.
So what do you think? Do you think I am on to something? Do your own experiences seem similar to mine?
Friends, please do me a big favor. Before you rush to comment on one of my posts, whether on Facebook, or on any other social network where my graphics can be found, please have the courtesy to first take the time to read any previous comments which may already be posted there. Doing so serves several purposes.
• First, it demonstrates that you care about what other people have to say regarding the same subject.
• Second, you will know what other users have already stated, and thus, hopefully, you will not be redundant in your own comments.
• Third, you will be aware of any Bible verses which have already been shared.
The end result is that you will be able to offer more informed feedback in your own comments, and continue the flow of the conversation.
Thanks for understanding, and for your thoughtful cooperation!
As this graphic states, Facebook has to be the most antisocial social network in which I have ever participated. After almost nine years of pretty much leaving me alone, and just letting me do what I do — preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ — participating on Facebook became a real annoyance as of early October of 2019. Actually though, the trouble began in November of 2017 when Facebook began tweaking their algorithm. That is when likes, comments and shares on my posts began dropping like a rock!
As I explain in my blog post called “Does Facebook Really Persecute Christians?”, the trouble grew worse in August of 2019 when I began to repeatedly receive on-screen warnings in my web browser regarding so-called “suspicious activity” on my Facebook account, supposed security breaches of my password — which I am sure no one will ever figure out due to its length and complexity — and supposed attempts by others to use my Facebook credentials on other websites. I have no doubt that all of this was bogus, because I am a longtime, seasoned computer user, and I know how to stay safe online.
Finally, as you can see by the table below, on October 6, 2019, I was completely locked out of my account for the first time for a total of 32 days. From that point forward, the harassment never stopped. In fact, it got so bad, that I finally got so sick of it, that I deleted my FB account in June of 2022, only to return 3.5 months later. But prior to deleting my old FB account, I was repeatedly locked out of my account for various lengths of time, forced logged off, forced to repeatedly change my password, repeatedly forced to jump through Facebook’s security hoops, repeatedly forced to upload my personal ID — six times in May of 2022 — and hundreds of my posts were removed from Facebook for no valid reason. During that time period, I was keeping a careful record of all of this harassment from Facebook. Consider the following:
Facebook Lock-Out Dates
32 days = October 6, 2019 to November 7, 2019
06 days = November 9 to November 15, 2019
02 days = November 19, 2019 to November 21, 2019
03 days = November 23, 2019 to November 26, 2019
02 days = November 26, 2019 to November 28, 2019
01 days = December 14, 2019 to December 15, 2019
Please note that there were more lockouts after December 15, 2019 as well, but I am sure the above table clearly makes my point. In fact, according to my records, from July 30, 2019 to December 29, 2019 — Facebook forced me to change my password at least 20 times. Furthermore, I was forced logged out and/or fully locked out of my account at least 27 times during this same time period. Now, if that is not intentional harassment by someone at Facebook, what is? That kind of continuous harassment would frustrate anyone. Is it any wonder that I finally deleted my account and left in June of 2022?
To reiterate, this has NEVER happened on any of the other social networks and blogs where I participate. Never! I have had a few posts taken down over the years, but that is about it.
WARNING! If I happen to visit your timeline or page, or another social network where you happen to participate, and if I discover that you use foul language which is NOT befitting for a Bible-believing Christian, be advised that I will not hesitate to unfriend you, or disconnect you, or block you, immediately. What is wrong with you? Shame on you! What kind of a Christian witness are you being to others who may visit your page? Are you a member of this present evil world, or do you belong to Jesus Christ? If you belong to Jesus, then reflect HIM, and NOT the mannerisms of the world! I would be ashamed to have some of my friends visit your page! Clean up your act!
Article: “Stop Cussing! Be Not Conformed to This World!”:
The following commentary came about quite some time ago as a result of a short exchange I had with another Facebook user who was having difficulty posting messages on their timeline, and sending private text messages as well. Despite my attempt to help this person understand what might really be going on, they remained convinced that they were being attacked and punished by Facebook because they were boldly sharing their Christian faith on their timeline.
Furthermore, this person apparently took offense at my comments, and indirectly suggested that if I had not been in “Facebook Prison” at least a few times — as they had — then I must not be a very bold witness of my faith on Facebook. Their comment came across as being a bit self-righteous, but I was not about to engage in a debate with this person. It is simply not my modus operandi.
What is odd about their response is that in my lengthy comment to them — the contents of which is contained below — I made clear to them that I had received a slap on the wrist from Facebook a few times. I obviously don’t need to defend my position here. Those of you who have known me for a while, already realize that I don’t preach a watered-down Gospel. I am rather direct and in-your-face about it. In fact, over the almost nine years that I have participated on Facebook, hundreds of people have become offended by what I preach, and have unfriended me. It’s a part of life on Facebook, but you can’t let it rattle you.
But that is beside the point. As I explained to this particular person, I suspected that what was really happening with them was either a technical glitch on Facebook’s end — they happen all the time — or else perhaps they did something — knowingly or unknowingly — which was a violation of Facebook’s TOS — Terms of Service — or which one of their algorithms or filters interpreted as being so-called “suspicious activity”. This could include such things as the following:
1. Sending out too many friend requests too quickly.
2. Copying and pasting the same exact message word-for-word, and privately texting it to too many people.
3. Visiting a lot of people’s timelines, and copying and pasting the same exact message on each of those timelines.
We need to remember that Facebook is heavily automated, and uses a lot of bots, scripts, filters and algorithms to monitor different things. Annoying activities such as the above three will definitely raise a red flag and set off an alarm, resulting in a person getting a slap on the wrist, or as some users like to call it, being sent to “Facebook Jail” for a while.
Regarding raising red flags, let me mention a related point. Like many other companies, Facebook uses spam filters to weed out undesirable posts from its network which meet certain criteria, such as those which clearly contain hate speech, or racism, or which Facebook has deemed to be fake news, for example. As you may already know, due to pressure from the U.S. government and other entities, Facebook is making more of an effort to reduce the amount of fake news on its network. This may have an affect on some of the posts which you are allowed to make.
The way that most spam filters work is by recognizing certain email addresses which are known to be sources of high-volume spam, certain IP addresses which are known to be sources of spam, or certain word patterns which strongly suggest that a post is spam. While some spam filters work very well — I use one with my email client that has a very high accuracy rate — they are nevertheless software, and thus are not perfect. As a result, such filters may occasionally raise what are referred to as “false flags” or “false positives”. A false flag/false positive is when the spam filter identifies something as spam, which really isn’t spam.
Now, because spam filters are not always on target with their detection methods, what this means is that occasionally you may make a perfectly harmless post on Facebook, which Facebook’s spam filters will flag as spam. Maybe the filter saw something suspicious in an external URL that you used; or maybe it detected a certain word pattern in a text message which you posted. Whatever the case may be, because it detected something that it didn’t like, it raised a red flag on your post, even though your post was perfectly innocent in nature.
As I said, this is referred to as a false flag or a false positive. The filter incorrectly classified or identified your status update, and prevented you from posting it. While this may be rather frustrating for you, there really isn’t much that you can do about it, except move on. Just remember that when this happens, it isn’t necessarily because Facebook is singling you out and targeting you because of your Christian beliefs. It simply means that Facebook needs to refine the spam filter that raised the false flag in the first place.
NOTE: One exception to the above might be if you happen to be in the habit of posting content from fake news websites, even though you may not know they are fake news sites. While you personally may feel that the content is true and legitimate, Facebook has the final say in the matter. So, if one of their filters catches it, and stops you, there isn’t much that you can do about it. Let me also add that some of my Christian brethren are not the brightest crayons in the box. I have visited a number of timelines which regularly post fake news from certain websites which I personally would never waste my time on, much less share their content on my timeline.
Now, if you are prevented from making a post, you need to remember that what happens after your post has been flagged as spam, is all an automated process. Usually, you are not dealing with real Facebook employees in most cases, although it may sometimes seem that way. If you are asked certain questions for feedback, or sent a thank you message, or whatever, it is all being conducted by bots, so please don’t get too frustrated. Don’t forget that Facebook has billions of users worldwide, so it cannot possibly have a real human being address every single issue which arises. We are in the technology age, so get used to it.
You also need to remember that if you send something to someone who you really do not know, and with whom you have not established a good rapport, they may consider your post or message annoying, and thus mark it as spam. If Facebook receives enough complaints against you due to your annoying a lot of people, they will take action against you, and it will be your own fault.
Also, you need to realize that the longer you are a part of Facebook, the more likely it is that you will eventually face some kind of punitive measure from Facebook, because you simply cannot control how people will react to your posts, private text messages, comments, etc.
The key is to learn your lesson the first time you make a mistake and are castigated by Facebook, so that it doesn’t happen again. As some of you will already know from your own experiences, each time you make the same mistake, Facebook will slap you harder, and will restrain you from using that particular Facebook feature for a longer period of time.
When I first joined Facebook in early 2011, like many newcomers to social networking, I was a bit ambitious. So I made some of the same common mistakes that everyone makes. I wanted to have lots of friends, and I wanted to preach the Christian Gospel message. It should come as no surprise then that I received a few slaps on the wrist from Facebook until I learned to slow down a bit. Let’s face it. Some of us Christians can be quite enthusiastic when it comes to sharing the Gospel online. So it is not unusual for us to exceed Facebook’s Terms of Service on occasion, and annoy the wrong people.
To continue, over the twelve years that I have had a presence on Facebook, now and then I have seen some of my Christian brethren making claims that Facebook is censoring their posts, persecuting them, and making it impossible for them to carry on their online life, and be a witness of their Christian faith. Some of them have in fact made the claim that Facebook is attacking and punishing a lot of its Christian users — just like the person I mentioned earlier in this note — just because they are Christians.
Initially, I was a bit skeptical of this claim; the reason being that during the twelve years that I have participated on Facebook, I have made thousands of posts, which have included over 4,300 graphics. As I mentioned earlier, anyone who has known me a long time, will know that I preach a rather radical, in-your-face Gospel. I don’t compromise. I tell it like it is. I expose things such as abortion, the gay and lesbian agenda, the ungodly public school system, the corrupt American government, etc. In short, I say a lot of things that liberals and nonbelievers don’t like. Things which upset them. I expose the sins of the ungodly world around us.
Yet, despite the more radical stuff that I posted at times, Facebook never came down on me because of my views. They never persecuted me because of my beliefs. They never prevented me from posting stuff on my timeline, on my page, or in the Bill’s Bible Basics group. So my reasoning at the time was that if Facebook is really after Christians as some of my brethren claim, I would think that they would have stopped me long ago. However, during my first six years on Facebook, they hadn’t done so.
Well, as some of you will know by now, that suddenly changed in November of 2017 when Facebook apparently began to shadow ban, and the number of reactions and comments to my posts began to drop dramatically. By early August of 2019, I began to repeatedly be confronted with “suspicious activity” alerts on my computer screen, forced to log out, forced to enter a new password, and forced to upload my personal ID multiple times to prove that I am who I say I am. It was crazy. After so many years of peace on Facebook, it just came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise.
Finally, on the evening of October 6, 2019, I was locked out of my Facebook account for reasons which still remain unknown to me, and I remained locked out of my account for a full month. Repeated attempts to get back in again failed. Facebook remained totally silent regarding the issue, and never got in touch with me via email, as the “suspicious activity” screen claimed they would do. So I must wonder if this is how they now keep undesirables off of their network. That is, by locking them out, and then remaining silent.
At any rate, I was finally allowed back into my account on November 7, 2019. However, since November 7th, they have continued to repeatedly lock me out of my account, forced me to change my password, forced me to upload my personal ID, and forced me to jump through all of their security hoops. On top of that, often when this happens, they also remove a dozen or more of my posts from my timeline, FB page and the Bill’s Bible Basics group. Half a day’s work on Facebook is just wiped out, just like that. It is really a waste of my time. To say the least, it has been very annoying, and very disruptive to my Facebook ministry, because when they remove my posts without warning, any comments which were made, or any posts which were shared by my friends are lost. Consider the following:
Facebook Lock-Out Dates
32 days = October 6, 2019 to November 7, 2019
06 days = November 9 to November 15, 2019
02 days = November 19, 2019 to November 21, 2019
03 days = November 23, 2019 to November 26, 2019
02 days = November 26, 2019 to November 28, 2019
01 days = December 14, 2019 to December 15, 2019
There have been a few one-day lockouts since December 15, 2019 as well. In fact, I just checked my records, and from July 30, 2019 until today — December 29, 2019 — Facebook has forced me to change my password at least 20 times. Furthermore, I have been forced logged out and/or fully locked out of my account at least 27 times. That kind of harassment would frustrate anyone.
Now, I could do as others have done and immediately attribute these lockouts to Facebook’s bias against conservative and Christian viewpoints, and it could possibly be true. However, in my particular case, I don’t know that for a fact. While I have a few personal theories regarding what may have caused the lockout, I don’t know with any degree of certainty. That is why I refuse to promote the claim that I was ousted because of my Christian beliefs.
The same thing applies to my other Christian brethren who have had problems on Facebook as well. Maybe their problems are due to their position as Christians, and Facebook is harassing them and trying to shut them down. Or maybe, just maybe, such people simply don’t understand what may be going on behind-the-scenes. If we consider that Facebook has billions of users, with servers all around the world, and that those servers are constantly being taxed to the limit by those users, it is surprising that more technical glitches don’t occur. I mean, we are talking about a major, global computer operation here. So many things could go wrong, not to mention the people who try to attack Facebook’s networks from the outside.
Now, if it is not a technical glitch which is causing you problems on your timeline or page — such as a false positive by a bot or algorithm — then maybe you need to honestly consider if perhaps you did something which Facebook didn’t like, and which set off a red flag. You can’t blame Facebook for trying to protect its resources, and its users, when you do something you are not supposed to do. Neither can you blame them if as a result of your actions, you receive a slap on the wrist, or go to jail, as they say.
So, my point is this; Please don’t be too quick to play the Christian persecution card, before you really understand what is going on. If you made a mistake, learn from it, and then move on. On the other hand, if it truly is persecution because of your faith, then consider this:
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12, KJV
“And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:41, KJV
“For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” 1 Peter 2:19-23, KJV
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Luke 6:28, KJV
“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.” Romans 12:17, KJV
“See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15, KJV
“Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing . . . But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;” 1 Peter 3:9, 14, KJV
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” Hebrews 12:14-15, KJV
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:18, KJV
In my case, the harassment from Facebook staff members became so bad, that in June of 2022 I deleted my Facebook account. That is because in May of that same year, Facebook forced me to upload my personal ID a total of SIX TIMES! It was crazy, and I had enough of their nonsense, so I left … only to return three and a half months later in September. 🙂
Anyway, that’s my take regarding this issue. To summarize, it could be intentional harassment, censorship and discrimination on Facebook’s part; or it could be that you simply did something wrong which alerted Facebook’s bots. Others may feel differently.
This graphic doesn’t really require any further explanation; does it? So, if you really want me to accept your friend request, then please open the gates on your page so that I can more clearly determine what you are all about, and thus decide if I think we would make good friends or not. Thanks so much!
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29, KJV
“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” Colossians 3:8, KJV
WARNING! If I happen to visit your Facebook timeline or page, or another social network where you happen to participate, and if I discover that you use foul language which is NOT befitting for a Bible-believing Christian, be advised that I will not hesitate to unfriend you, or disconnect you, or block you, immediately. What is wrong with you? Shame on you! What kind of a Christian witness are you being to others who may visit your page? Are you a member of this present evil world, or do you belong to Jesus Christ? If you belong to Jesus, then reflect HIM, and NOT the mannerisms of the world! I would be ashamed to have some of my friends visit your page! Clean up your act!
Article: “Stop Cussing! Be Not Conformed to This World!”:
Over the years, I have noticed a disturbing trend amongst some of my online Christian friends which really bothers me.
If you send me a friend request, and I visit your page or timeline to vet you, and I discover that you are Black, and all of your friends are Black, well, I have a problem with that. Likewise, if you happen to be White, and all of your friends are White, the same holds true. That equally disturbs me. Of course, this applies to any other race as well.
Friends, the point is that Jesus Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition. Not only are we all one blood in the flesh no matter who we are and where we are — because we are all human beings of flesh with the same blood pumping through our veins — but more importantly, we are also one in Spirit through our faith in the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The Scriptures make it very clear that God is no respecter of persons. He does not see our race, and He does not favor one race over another. The bottom line is that He only sees whether or not we have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. That is all that matters to Him. So please beware of favoritism and racism on your timelines and pages! We don’t want to convey the wrong message to the world, do we?
“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” Acts 17:26, KJV
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28, KJV
“No Respect of Persons (Impartiality)” KJV Bible Verse List:
Please be advised that the Bill’s Bible Basics Facebook ministry is a public ministry. What I mean by this is that everything I have to offer to my Facebook friends can be found by visiting my timeline. In fact, to take full advantage of everything that I have to offer in the way of the Scriptures, you should also click or tap on the links which I include with many of the posts that I make. These links will lead you to even more information, and deeper Bible studies, concerning what each of my graphics is about, on the Bill’s Bible Basics website.
The reason why I am stating this, is because I have too many friends — particularly from Asian, Middle Eastern, African and other Muslim countries — who seem to only be interested in engaging in private text messaging. These people show very little interest — if any at all — in commenting on my posts, liking my posts, or sharing my graphics on their own timelines and pages.
Why is this?
I will tell you why. With over 14 years of Facebook experience — as of September 2025 — behind me, I know for a fact that in a large number of these cases, these people are ultimately only after a few things: money, clothing, Bible supplies, etc. Now, I recognize that some of these people may be honest and sincere in their requests. They may indeed be real, Bible-believing Christians who have given their lives to Christ. However, with so much fraud, deception and outright lying occurring on Facebook, how can we know for sure?
Trust me when I say that some scammers can create a website or Facebook page that looks very convincing and very legitimate. That is to say, the website or Facebook page will give the impression that they truly are Christian, or that they truly do run a Christian orphanage or similar Christian ministry. When such people do start sending you private text messages, they will start off innocent enough with a simple hello, how are you, God bless you, etc. But eventually, they will get to the main point: they want your money, or something else. I have been through this enough times over the years to know. Trust me on this.
Personally, I can’t help but wonder how many gullible, naive Christians — particularly American Christians — on Facebook are sending money to these people, not realizing that they may very well be funding some Muslim terrorist organization, or just giving money to someone who doesn’t even believe in Christ, and who simply knows how to say the right things, and milk Americans for all they are worth in a financial sense.
It is for this reason that whenever I do accept a new friend request, I let the person know right off the bat in my welcome message to them, that I cannot help them in any way, other than by sharing the Word of God with them. If secretly they want more than that, then they are barking up the wrong tree, and their friend request is wasted on me. And they are wasting my time as well.
In short, I like to keep everything above board and out in the open. In other words, if I do accept your friend request, let’s keep it public. Engage with my posts by commenting on them, liking them, and sharing them on your own timeline or page. Now, if you do none of these things; and if you are silent for a long period of time; and then you suddenly start sending me private text messages, naturally, I am going to be suspicious, and I am going to wonder what it is that you really want. Many scammers start out this way.
For the record, I private text with very few people on Facebook on a regular basis. These are normally people I have known for at least a few years on Facebook, if not longer, and who I have grown to trust. I know that they are sincere and legit in their faith in Christ. Currently, I can count such people with whom I text on a regular basis on one hand.
“But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Hebrews 13:16, KJV
Sometimes, I receive comments from my online friends, in which they seem to think that I have left the social networks, or at least that I am posting a lot less. In actuality, this is not what is happening.
The fact of the matter is this: If you don’t frequently like, comment on and share my posts, the Facebook algorithm interprets this as meaning that you don’t have much interest in my posts. As a result, my posts will slowly disappear from your news feed, giving you the false impression that I am no longer posting, or perhaps that I have even left Facebook altogether.
My friends, this is simply NOT true. You can prove this for yourselves, simply by visiting my timeline. This applies to other social networks where I participate as well. What you will discover is that I actually post daily, meaning that I make literally hundreds of posts every single month.
So, the solution is simple: Visit and engage on my timeline more often, and you will then hopefully see more of my posts in your news feed as well. Thanks so much!
To visit my website and blog directly, please use the following links:
Are you aware of the fact that you may unknowingly be allowing scammers, porn stars and other questionable riffraff to join your circle of Facebook friends? I didn’t think so. Well, believe it or not, but that is EXACTLY what you may be doing when you don’t take the time to vet and carefully examine each of your new friend requests under your “Friend Requests” menu.
In other words, if you just automatically click on the “Confirm” button next to each name under your “Friend Requests” menu because you are eager to have new friends, or perhaps because you want to have a longer friends list in order to impress your buddies, you could be letting shady characters into your social circle without realizing it. How do you know, unless you slow down, and take the time to go to each person’s timeline, in order to determine who they are, what they are about, what they believe, what their interests are, etc.?
Personally, I would NEVER accept a friend request without doing this first; because failure to vet potential friends is asking for trouble. As you will see in a moment, your failure to check out potential new friends could even negatively affect your already-established friends.
If you take this extra step with each friend request, you may be shocked and surprised to discover that some timelines are nothing more than traps to entice unwary victims to visit a porn-related website or page.
Look; if you get a friend request and their profile pic under your “Friend Requests” menu is a very sexy-looking girl, watch out! It is quite possible that it is a bogus Facebook account. So, don’t be surprised if when you visit their timeline, you discover a string of very suggestive, sexy images, with an invitation that says something like “See my nude photos here”. The word “here” will actually be a link to some other page not on Facebook, where said person will bare the goods, if you know what I mean.
Trust me; over the ten+ years that I have been a part of Facebook, I have come across many bogus Facebook accounts like this, and I still do. The best thing that you can do in such a case is to simply click on the “Ignore” button — or “Delete Request” button — on their page. Please note that I said ON THEIR PAGE. As I said before, you need to go to their page in order to determine what kind of person you are dealing with.
Of course, you could block such mischief makers too. However, personally, I view doing this as an exercise in futility, because the account is bogus, and will probably be reported by a lot of other Facebook users as well. If that happens, Facebook will take down the page sooner or later anyway. So in the end, you will just end up with a long list of blocked users who don’t even exist anymore.
As I said, more than likely, if you have received a friend request from one of these porn scammers, many other Facebook users have as well, and some of them have probably already reported the page. So, you might not even want to bother with reporting the page. In fact, if you report too many pages too often, Facebook may possibly begin to view you as an annoyance. So reporting a bogus account may not always work in your favor. Again, I counsel you to just hit the “Ignore” button, or the “Delete Request” button, and forget about it. That scammer probably already has dozens of other bogus Facebook accounts anyway.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite end there. If in your haste you allow these scammers onto your friends list because you failed to check them out first, you may be doing even more harm. Let me explain to you why this is so.
Stop and think about this. If you accept their friend request, you are legitimizing them as a real person. Now, imagine if twenty people on your friends list do the same thing. That means that the scammer will now have twenty people on their friends list who know each other. Not only that, but those twenty people have confirmed that the scammer is a real person, and someone who can be trusted. In other words, they have given the scammer credibility. That scammer can then send out even more friend requests to other of your friends.
Now, here is where the damage occurs. If those people make the same mistake as you initially did, they may look under their “Friend Requests” menu, see that they have twenty mutual friends with this person, and then decide “Oh, okay. My twenty friends accepted them as a friend, so this person must be alright.”
In short, your friends will do the exact same thing that you did. They will not take the time to investigate that person before clicking on the “Confirm” button. They will ASSUME that the person is okay, because that is what those other twenty mutual friends did.
So do you see now how that works? Do you see how porn scammers and other tricksters can widen their circle of friends due to your own haste, foolishness and gullibility? They can gain hundreds or even thousands of friends, and spread their filthy porn invitations everywhere.
On a final note, whenever I do come across one of these bogus Facebook accounts with the “See my nude photos” link on the page, if I look over at their current friends’ photos on the left side of the page, almost without fail, I will see one of my current friends listed there. In other words, the way in which the scammer found me in the first place, was by tricking someone else into accepting their friend request, and then finding my name in that person’s friends list, exactly as I explained to you earlier.
One way in which you can mitigate this problem is by doing the following. Please note that Facebook is always updating its pages, so these instructions may not be exact at the time that you read them:
1. Go to your settings on your Facebook timeline.
2. Click on the “Privacy” link on the left side of the page.
3. Under the “Privacy Settings and Tools” section of the page, go down to the “How People Find and Contact You” section.
4. One of the questions there will be “Who can see your friends list?”.
5. Click on the “Edit” button and change it to “Only Me”, if it is not already set to that.
By taking the above steps, only you will be able to see your full friends list. All of your other friends will only see your mutual friends. In other words, only friends that you both have in common. This is one way to prevent scammers from harvesting your friends list.
For additional information, please check out the following link as well:
I was motivated to write the following short commentary due to a comment which someone posted on Facebook under one of my graphics. This person and I have been Facebook “friends” for not quite seven years according to the “See Friendship” section of their timeline. Their comment was posted under the following graphic:
For the record, the reason why I placed the word “friends” in quotes in the previous paragraph is because I had to go to this particular person’s timeline in order to determine if we were even friends, because I obviously don’t even remember or recognize their name. Sound familiar?
“Why don’t you remember them?”, you may ask. Well, because the truth is that this person has rarely — if ever — engaged with me and the BBB ministry in any meaningful way — meaning likes, comments, shares or personal chats — in the almost seven years that we have been Facebook friends. In fact, just to make sure that my facts were right, before writing this commentary, I checked this person’s timeline as far back as November of 2018 — or eleven months ago — and since that time — and probably a lot earlier — they had not shared a single one of my graphics. Neither had they commented anywhere on my Facebook timeline, Facebook page, or in the BBB public group. And we most certainly have never had any private chats during this time, if ever.
As I have mentioned before, the only people who I remember on Facebook — or on any other social networks for that matter — are those whose names I see frequently on my timeline, on my Facebook page or in the BBB group. I suspect that the same situation occurs with most Facebook users; particularly if one happens to have thousands of friends, as I do.
In other words, whether it is on Facebook or on some other social network, we all carry a lot of dead weight around on our friends list. That is, people who we know very little to nothing about, and who we can’t even remember, precisely because they never make an appearance and engage with us. They are in fact complete strangers to us, and just a faceless name on our friends list.
So I am motivated to ask: What is the point of two people calling themselves “friends” on Facebook or anywhere else, if there is little or no engagement of any kind? In my view, it is similar to two people getting married, and then they each have their own bedroom, and engage in very little interaction, sexual or otherwise. Worse yet would be if they each live in their own house. Such a relationship is surely doomed to eventual failure. Sadly, this is a relationship in name only; just like many lukewarm Christians have with Jesus.
But what irked me the most about this person’s comment, is the fact that when they finally did pop their head out of the ditch, so-to-speak, it was to make a low jab with a criticizing, condescending comment. What they said was the following:
“So a person who wants to be a new friend has to measure up to your stature. Hmmm, sounds like a person has to climb a pedestal to be a friend.”
Apparently, this person made this comment all because I ask people to get to know me first before sending me a friend request. I simply ask them to not make a hasty decision, and to make sure that that they want to be friends with me. It seems like a very reasonable and fair request to me, don’t you think?
The fact that this person would even make the pedestal comment, suggests that they did not even take the time to read the whole text comment which I included above the graphic in question. Or if they did read it, they certainly didn’t understand it. So in response to this person’s critical jab, allow me to state the following:
No, there is no pedestal to climb. I simply look for quality friendships on Facebook. Unlike some people, I don’t just blindly approve every single friend request that appears under my “Friend Requests” menu. My goal is not to bloat my friends list in an effort to impress people with how many friends I have. As I explained in the text message that was included with the graphic, I actually take the time to visit each and every person’s timeline or page in order to vet them first, as we all should be doing. As Jesus taught, we are to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
It is precisely when people fail to vet each friend request, and instead just let every person through the door, that riff-raff, troublemakers and scammers sneak onto their friends list, which could later lead to problems. So, because I do take the time to do this with each and every person who sends me a friend request, yes, it does indeed irk me when only minutes after I approve their friend request, for reasons which remain unknown to me, they turn around and unfriend me, thus wasting my time.
That is the point of the particular graphic which this person commented on; which they would have known, had they taken the time to read and understand the whole text comment which is included with the graphic.
To reiterate, friends, don’t just approve every friend request that you see under your “Friend Requests” menu. Take the time to vet them first. If you don’t, you are asking for trouble. Allow me to give you one quick example. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to a timeline to check out a person, only to be confronted with “My nude photos here”, followed by a link, at the very top of their timeline. My friends, that is the kind of people you may be adding to your friends list, if you just blindly approve every name you see under the “Friend Requests” menu.
Now, imagine if one of your own friends goes and visits that same page, because they see that you are friends with that person. It might leave you a bit embarrassed, and they may even question their friendship with you as well. So do yourself a favor. Take the time to check out all potential new friends first, or you may end up paying later.
In case some of you are wondering why I am making this request, and not just accepting every Tom, Dick and Harry who comes along, it is because there have been a number of occasions in the past where someone has sent me a friend request — which I have then accepted — only to have them turn around literally a few minutes later, and unfriend me. I don’t know if it was because they saw something on my timeline or page which offended them or which they didn’t agree with, or what.
But the point is, this kind of indecisive behavior irks me. Why? Well, because after someone sends me a friend request, I will take the time to visit their timeline in order to determine if they are a Christian, and to see exactly what they believe, what kinds of things they post, what kind of language they use, who their friends are, etc. In other words, I vet each person individually.
If I determine that we might be good friends, and then approve their friend request, only to have them turn around minutes later and unfriend me, yes, that rubs me the wrong way. In short, make sure that you really do wish to be my friend before sending me your friend request.
Thanks so much for your consideration. I appreciate it!
Facebook Pointer Regarding Commenting
https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/facebook-pointer-regarding-commenting/
Friends, please do me a big favor. Before you rush to comment on one of my posts, whether on Facebook, or on any other social network where my graphics can be found, please have the courtesy to first take the time to read any previous comments which may already be posted there. Doing so serves several purposes.
• First, it demonstrates that you care about what other people have to say regarding the same subject.
• Second, you will know what other users have already stated, and thus, hopefully, you will not be redundant in your own comments.
• Third, you will be aware of any Bible verses which have already been shared.
The end result is that you will be able to offer more informed feedback in your own comments, and continue the flow of the conversation.
Thanks for understanding, and for your thoughtful cooperation!