A clear demonstration of how users don't read error messages, as the screenshot that appears above this paragraph spells out the exact method the author suggests.
FB has a history of collecting cross-site passwords from failed logins.
> You can also try other challenges to confirm your identity.
FB's approach here is a great example of a dark pattern. I've known several people who really want to kick the FB habit and deactivated their accounts. But when they accidentally reactivate, the temptation was too great to go back since everything was still there just how they left it.
Evil genius right there.
How does one pay for Facebook? Is there a premium service I'm not aware of?
Same way Google do with adword on their search page.
I run ads on Facebook for several Facebook pages and additionally promote their posts (using the per-post boosting) fairly regularly.
In your example though the Ads are the product you're paying for. Not the Facebook account that is purchasing them, though I see how they're inherently linked.
It's like Ford in the 70's with the Pinto, trading off the cost of law suits vs. the cost of a recall.
So, yes. I agree with you in spirit, but not all users are as skilled, or upset, by this as others. And some may actually be lured back in.
People severely overestimate their own free-will and downplay the role of luck and external forces in their lives. If free-will was absolute and unlimited, then Facebook wouldn't be able to make any money from advertising. If you look at Facebook's income statement, you can actually quantify how much free-will Facebook took away from humanity.
Facebook's mission is basically to take free-will out of people and turn it into dollars for corporations.
Forcing someone to provide real identification for a service that didn't require it to sign up in the first place is just ludicrous.
For all intents and purposes my email is the sole identification available for a service like facebook. Further, a passport picture isn't worth squat because there is nothing linking my email to it anyway (and a passport picture can easily be forged or copied).
I'm going to guess that OP of article had a similar situation; Using another service, an errant click was made that triggered an event on Facebook.
I remember shutting down my account and then recieving some emails a week later, clicked the link wondering why FB was still emailing me, boom account reactivated. Shut it down again, then a couple weeks later I clicked the wrong share link and once again my account was reactivated.
If I was an investor or advertiser, I would be deeply suspicious of Facebook's metrics...
Otherwise... well, imagine that I close my account and then decide to reopen it. ANYONE IN THE WORLD could block me from reopening it if FB doesn't require identification in the way you suggest.