How to deal with Facebook real name policy?

Question

I used to have a Facebook profile for my store. It had 3000 friends and still brings lots of visits to my web site.

Now, when I open my Facebook account, it asks for my real name and won't let me go further. I tried a couple of variants, without luck. It now says that I only have one try before locking my account.

How does Facebook know whether a name is real? Should I use my real name (noting that I already have another profile with that name)? A lot of people know the name of the shop, not mine, so I'd like to leave the old name, but I'm afraid my account would be locked if I do. Any suggestion?

Edit: I also have a fan page for the shop, but with only 300 friends (10%). If I really need to use the fan page, is there a way to transfer all existing information (photo albums, ...)?

Answer 1

See if this works: Facebook Migration Tool from Profile to Page.
And the reverse: Facebook Migration Appeal just in case you changed your mind.

Answer 2

You brought up a couple things with your question and I will try to address them best as possible :)

First. Regarding FB asking you for your real name... Is it asking you for your name in some sort of login capacity? As in, enter your real name to verify who you are and that you are the account owner? In which case you will want to make sure that you give it the same name that you used when you created the account. Or are they asking you for your real name to fill out 'vital' information about your profile? I am leaning former scenario as it sounds like they are locking you out of your profile.

Second. Re: How does Facebook know whether a name is real? They are probably comparing what you just typed in with what you said was your 'real name' when you first setup your account.

Third. Re: If I really need to use the fan page, is there a way to transfer all existing information (photo albums, ...) Yes it is possible to transfer but not for people like you and me. Facebook will really only provide that service for large accounts. For people like you and me they will just point us to their Terms of Service and remind us that we never should have made a normal account for a business in the first place.

gl

Answer 3

Facebook has, according to Reuters, relaxed their real name-policy. According to this article, you should be able to use an alias.

But you're expected to use a name that others will know you by, according to Facebook's Chris Cox:

Our policy has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name. The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life.

^{October 1, 2014}

Answer 4

Do you mean "Facebook account", by saying "Facebook profile for my store"? You probably know that in accordance with the FB rules, a profile/account should be created for an individual. Facebook says that "Personal profiles are for non-commercial use and represent individual people". It works to have an individual profile and Page for your business.

If you have created a profile for you business, this is definitely against FB rules and they'd close it anytime they want. So it is a good idea to create a FB page for your business and to invite and "migrate" all the friends and followers to that one. Then you'll be able to use "Facebook for Business" tools and features.

Facebook has become too big, too influential and too controversial. I'd say that it is very important for people to keep any FB business pages as supplemental to their main websites. You never know how FB would chance with TOS and when. It would be in a way that would not work for you.

As far as for FB's analytics and the way they identify a user, it is just thought profile's connections to other people and profiles. We'd not forget that Facebook owns a number of 3rd party applications, portals, service providers and companies. If someone integrates any 3rd party account with FB and uses one's FB login on a 3rd party website, it is very easy for them to analyze (automatically) the information they get from synchronized accounts. I hope that this helps.