I have been given a life time ban of ever following any site on WP. This because once I was temporarily stopped from following other authors because I followed 25 WP sites in a day. Then they banned me.

I did that because I schedule posts and am not on WP every day. When I come and see comments from new authors and go to their sites and like their work, I want to follow them.

WP told me I couldn’t possibly read the number of sites I follow (700). But that’s not for them to decide given I read periodically great numbers and SIXTY percent of some books I’ve been part of publishing/editing are people we have met and read on WP!! Maybe higher.

I regularly promote OTHERS. How is this spam behavior? How does my behavior justify a life time ban of following people? It cripples me. I cannot change to another site because I built here and have many friends and colleagues here.

So it is not justifiable. Nor was it respectful. My job here is finding talent for our work. How is that spamming or undermining WP?

In fact, WP should be glad we highlight WP authors. Isn’t that the point of platforms like WP?

I’m not Trump. I shouldn’t be banned for life. I asked them what is a number I can follow without being barred from following? Instead of giving me that option they just banned me for life.

People may follow me and wonder why I don’t, when I want to. I won’t see their posts because I’m not able to follow them. I understand rules. But this isn’t right because it was wrong of them to assume I followed a writer for likes. I’ve never cared about likes that much, as anyone who knows me can attest. This is about doing my job. And highlighting work including a book of my own, I have coming out. How can I promote anything if I cannot freely follow anyone ever again?

I’m dealing with a very serious issue right now so I haven’t been able to act on this yet but I do intend to protest this legally when I can. Rules are great but they must also make sense and be intelligent.

Am sorry if you follow me as I cannot anymore follow you. I will fight to be treated fairly.

34 Replies to “WordPress”

  1. This is sad and unjust Candice, is there an avenue to where I could write a protest comment/letter..Cheers Ivor

  2. It is odd, Orwellian? or even Kafkaesque, that the way to learn of a rule is to be summarily punished for breaking it. WP is not our parent. It is a service which some of us use, with limits, for free and others pay for. I don’t actually know (haven’t looked recently) how many WP blogs I follow, almost certainly less than 700. Still, I don’t want to be worried that I will exceed some limit. And, I am not in the business of finding writers to publish. This makes me angry. Some individual or committee made this decision. Therefore, it can be changed. The question is, How? Please, let us know if there is a way to help.

  3. Crazy ā‰ļø
    I find time spent commenting
    takes away time for reading
    and writing, but WordPress has
    no business intervening in your
    modus operandi on social media.

  4. I had to search for how to leave a comment. For a while I’ve assumed you had comments turned off because there isn’t a comment box…until you ask for it specifically.
    I sent you some of my thoughts on this in an email, but basically it seems completely arbitrary, and I don’t see how it affects WP one way or the other whether you read posts. I don’t remember there being an obligation to read a minimum of posts when I started my blog. They get their advertising revenue however little we read and presumably the more hits a blog gets, the more the advertising is worth.

  5. You have stumbled into the realms of the ridiculous Candice. For what it’s worth, I would happily follow your posts even if you cannot reciprocate. Good luck in your battle. ā¤ļøā¤ļø

  6. The weird world of algorithms arbitering our behaviour šŸ™„ keep us posted on what comes of this

  7. This seems outrageous, Candice!
    It’s obvious how supportive you are of other writers.
    And what a positive presence you are on WordPress.
    Also, good days on the Reader can mean finding many new blogs to follow.
    (Why shouldn’t you follow anyone you want?)
    For myself, I always especially look forward to YOU dropping by.ā¤ļø
    Am so VERY sorry to hear you are being treated this way.šŸ˜§

  8. Oh Lord i Know
    The Feeling i Read
    20 Times Faster
    Than The
    Average Human
    Haha And Relatively
    Speaking Hehe Write
    Even More So Many
    Days i Have
    Had To Fight
    The ā€˜Algorithm
    Policeā€™ To Prove
    i Am Real
    Honestly
    Just
    About
    Everywhere
    iā€™ve Been
    True You
    Can And Will
    Grow too Big
    To See Yet
    At
    Least
    A Ban
    Or Delete
    Is Not An
    Invisible
    Person
    A Tree Too
    Tall To See
    Hanging
    From A Smaller Tree…
    So Far iā€™ve Won
    Enough
    Skirmishes to Exist šŸŒ²

  9. Wow! This is so weird and you are right. This is not right. I think you have a case to make here. You should ask them how many people have followed more than you? I’ll bet it’s a lot. You deserve equal treatment. I usually only follow a few people that haven’t followed me first but I do some. This just doesn’t sound right. They should have given you a warning on following more than X number in a day. Besides they provide at least two level of following a blog – Weekly, Daily oh, and instantly (showing whenever something is posted instantly). Some bloggers have thousands of people following them and most people who follow a blogger have the blogger follow them back. I’m thinking you may find some others in your boat on google and can jointly request WP to reconsider a permaent ban?Would love to have you keep me informed on this issue!
    Thanks
    Chuck
    šŸ’–šŸ˜ŠšŸŒ¹

  10. I even tried to find a suitable alternative to WordPress but had no luck and had to come back, unfortunately.(I “love” how they are now offering classes to “learn” WordPress…but still haven’t fixed the same ole same ole glitches after, how long has it been?–nine years!)

  11. I have no words about this! This kind of censorship is so unfair and assumes that all people who mass follow are spammers. I understand completely where you are coming from; I often follow many people in one day too. I do not spend my life on WordPress.
    Is there anything you can do (or the community) could do to contest the ban?

  12. This is the strangest thing I ever heard. Never realized this was even a possibility. May things work out in your favor.

  13. Candice, in our recent communications via email regarding submissions for Through the Looking Glass ā€“ I for one am grateful that you follow my blog, else my work would not be included in the publication. You being on the editorial team of Indie Blu(e) makes such a huge difference to the careers of many who otherwise may not have been able to get their work out there, beyond the limitations of our own blogs.

    Iā€™ve no idea how many blogs I follow but in any given session on WP I easily read 50 posts. The chore of commenting and even leaving a like is such I often refrain, but it doesnā€™t mean I donā€™t read peopleā€™s work. Some I skip because the content is just simply not what I can or want to deal with at that moment. So what? How often do I open a post and read multiple posts by the same author/visual artist just to catch up. So what if I do or if I donā€™t?

    I think the recent issues brought up by Trump has caused a panic by owners of social media sites and WP fell for the paranoia.

    Iā€™ve recently joined Instagram to promote my visual and literary work. Itā€™s been about six weeks and I already follow well over 200 contributors. Iā€™ve seen gallery owners follow more than a 1000 people? Whatā€™s the rub? Itā€™s your job to scout for talent. You scan a post and either follow up or not. It promotes WP too in case they donā€™t realise that.

    WP imposed their stupid new editor on all of us and if it isnā€™t that I, through reading other peopleā€™s posts, havenā€™t been clued up on how to circumvent the highly technicalities of it, Iā€™d have left them and gone to Blogger. I think WP is getting above and beyond themselves. You serve an entire writing community. Itā€™s what WP is for!

  14. WOW!!
    I ‘m new in here. Actually I have a project on IT about websites and I cfreated one. But I need your help: Could you please like my page and follow? Pleaseeeeeeeee!
    This is really imporrtant for me! I would be veryyy grateful if you do these above!
    Thnak you for your time! šŸ™‚ )

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