A Social Network Where You Can Be Too Social

Barker said users should avoid sending friend requests or identical messages to a lot of people at once. If a user needs to communicate the same message to more than 20 people, he or she should start a group rather than send individual messages, she said. While she declined to give specific limits, she said a general rule of thumb is to "go slowly with everything you do on the site."

Harry Joiner invited his Google e-mail contacts -- all 4,600 of them -- to join his friend network on Facebook. He, too, received an e-mail saying his account had been disabled.

The company's action "was very swift and very severe," he said. "All I did was follow the rules."

Joiner, a marketing recruiter in Atlanta, said it took three months for his account to be restored. He now conducts a lot of business on Facebook, connecting potential hires with employers. If he sends too many messages about a job posting, for instance, he runs the risk of being removed again.

Facebook also reserves the right to shut down accounts if users post fake names, write offensive messages or pull content from Facebook to post on a blog or Web site.

Earlier this year, Robert Scoble, a well-known video blogger, was temporarily kicked off Facebook for using an automated script to download his contacts from the site. His account was reinstated when he pledged not to "scrape," or copy, the site's content.

Still, the incident sparked a debate about who owns the content a user creates on a social network. Some Facebook users who've had their accounts disabled said they feel betrayed by the site, especially after investing hours to create the perfect profile, organize their social circles and amass an impressive "wall" of personal messages from friends.

Lisa Shane used Facebook to organize her high school reunion. Repeatedly sending the same messages to more than 200 people raised a red flag for Facebook.

A week before the reunion, she lost access to her account, as well as her contacts; RSVP list; and details about the venue, which she'd also arranged on Facebook.

"More and more people are using social networks to keep up important work contacts and to put together huge events," said Shane, of Baltimore. "If I can't count on that information being there when I need it most, just for using Facebook for its intended purpose, it makes me wary of using it to build contacts."

She added that by spending time on the site, she sees more advertisements. "Isn't that the point in the first place?" she said.

Coe, the woman in Centreville, said she tried to spread her messages over four or five days. She received warnings, she said, but thought she was in the clear after slowing down her activity. Her account was reinstated after she sent multiple e-mails to Facebook.

Now, Coe said, she'll use Facebook sparingly.

"Being banned for 3 1/2 days felt like a lifetime," she said.