# Disappearing Facebook profile **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273 "2009-11-20T09:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/1 "2009-11-20T09:09:36Z")
I recently (like, a few hours ago) managed to find a (_very_ obscure) author who I like on Facebook. I sent him a friend request, along with a message that I liked his book. He accepted it. I looked at his Facebook profile. It was pretty elaborate, with lots of photos of himself and his family and friends and a lot of interaction with other people. I sent him a message asking a question about his book. An hour or so later, I want to look at his profile again so I search for it. It no longer pops up in my Friends list. “He un-friended me, maybe?” I thought. Don’t know why he would have done that, but maybe he did. So I searched for his name in Facebook’s search engine to see if his profile would pop up again. It didn’t. It just didn’t come up at all. I have been un-friended by a person on Facebook before, and afterwards their profile was still visible (in a limited way). I was just no longer their friend and I couldn’t actually see their profile but their picture would come up with the option to friend the person, to send them a message, to see their friends, etc. In this case, the guy’s profile simply vanished. I originally found his Facebook profile through a Google search. So I searched Google for his name again, and found the link to his profile (again.) I clicked it. But instead of taking me to the limited-profile screen with his picture and the option to friend him or send him a message, it just takes me to my Facebook home page. So I log out of Facebook completely, and clear all my history, cookies, cache, everything. Again I type in his name in Google and click the link to his Facebook profile. Now it just gives me a yellow exclamation mark and an error message: \*\* The page you requested was not found. You may have clicked an expired link or mistyped the address. Some web addresses are case sensitive.\*\* What happened here? Why did his profile disappear (for me)? Even if he had indeed blocked me (and I don’t know why he would have) I don’t think his profile would have just outright disappeared in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/2 "2009-11-20T10:17:16Z")
Update - I just checked my inbox and I saw his reply to the first message I sent him along with my friend request. I asked him if he was the author of the book I liked, just to make sure it was the right guy, and he said that he was. His name appeared in bold, black, unclickable letters and his profile pic was a generic stand-in. Leading me to believe he blocked me. (Why? All I did was ask him a totally unoffensive question about his religious views [which are a major topic of his book].) And it’s one of the most debauched, explicit, over the top books I’ve ever read so the idea of him being thin-skinned about this is quite amusing to me. Nevertheless the Google link to his profile still brings up an error message even when I’m not logged into Facebook and with all my history cleared. Is this normal for someone who has blocked you? Or did he, for some insane reason, take down his entire profile? Or is there some kind of system error? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/3 "2009-11-20T10:52:32Z")
Even if he unfriended you, you should still be able to see his public profile. My guess is that he took down his profile, or there’s an error with Facebook - an everyday occurrence these days, it seems. Facebook has to be the worst performing “big name” site out there. I can’t remember the last time I managed to send someone a message first time, or expand comments on the news feed page without the browser hanging and having to restart it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/4 "2009-11-20T11:49:39Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Even if he unfriended you, you should still be able to see his public profile. Block and Unfriend are different creatures (I have one ex girlfriend on block and one on unfriend). Block gets rid of that person’s entire presence with reference to the blocked account - it’s as if neither person exists to the other, within the Facebook context. If the OP sets up a dummy account and searches for the author again using that, you may find him, in which case you’ve been Blocked. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/5 "2009-11-20T13:05:12Z")
I’m on Facebook and I can find [Samuel Delany](http://www.facebook.com/samuel.delany?ref=search) without a problem. I assume that’s his profile since the number of friends is very high and due to the profile picture. Is that the profile you were looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/6 "2009-11-20T13:30:27Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Block and Unfriend are different creatures (I have one ex girlfriend on block and one on unfriend). Block gets rid of that person’s entire presence with reference to the blocked account - it’s as if neither person exists to the other, within the Facebook context. > > If the OP sets up a dummy account and searches for the author again using that, you may find him, in which case you’ve been Blocked. But surely “Block” shouldn’t stop the profile appearing on Google searches? Or is there an option to have no public profile presence at all? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/7 "2009-11-20T14:00:30Z")
It would be nice if you mentioned the name of the author. There are cases where people join Facebook but get tired of all the friending and unfriend people who they don’t know personally. I think you can also hide your information from Facebook searches. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/8 "2009-11-20T14:08:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > But surely “Block” shouldn’t stop the profile appearing on Google searches? Or is there an option to have no public profile presence at all? Hmm, you’re right, no - to recreate the OP’s situation, there would have to be two simultaneous actions: first Block a user, then change privacy settings to remove one’s profile from Google. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/9 "2009-11-20T14:25:39Z")
Just a very extreme change of privacy settings can cause that. He may have unfriended you and change his settings. Still not necessarily blocked you. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/10 "2009-11-20T14:35:19Z")
I had something similar happen. A real-life old friend who moved away to another state found and friended me on FaceBook. We chatted back and forth for a while, and then he suddenly disappeared right in the middle of a conversation. His name became unclickable on the messages. I just assumed he dropped his FaceBook account. I’ll have to track down his email address and find out. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/11 "2009-11-20T17:20:46Z")
> [@Mycroft\_Holmes](#): > > I’m on Facebook and I can find [Samuel Delany](http://www.facebook.com/samuel.delany?ref=search) without a problem. I assume that’s his profile since the number of friends is very high and due to the profile picture. Is that the profile you were looking for? No, this is someone with about 1/10000 the name recognition of Delany. He’s self-published. Totally obscure. I searched Google for his profile just now on another computer in the office; clicking the link led, again, to an error page. His profile has either been taken down completely, or - more likely - he un-friended me, then changed the privacy settings so that his profile couldn’t be accessed by Google or seen by anybody that he didn’t personally invite or something like that. Maybe he was overcome with anger at people who didn’t know him personally contacting him on Facebook and decided this was the last straw. Oddly though, I sent a message to his wife asking about this situation, and she quickly responded to me, saying: “I passed your message along to him; he should be getting in touch with you. Good luck!” ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/12 "2009-11-20T20:09:03Z")
One of my friends’ profiles isn’t always visible. It’s bizarre. Nothing like what’s described here, but it took me a bit of switching friend views to find her profile. There’s some sort of oddball glitches going on. The News vs Live feed option doesn’t always work right either. Drives me nuts. One day Live feed shows me everything, the next time it doesn’t. Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/13 "2009-11-20T20:20:56Z")
Sure you’re not a stalker? He apparently unfriended you and then changed his privacy settings…yet you contacted his wife to inquire about him? Sounds like he did the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/14 "2009-11-20T20:40:02Z")
It would be more helpful if you would just give the name of the author. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/15 "2009-11-20T20:43:41Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Sure you’re not a stalker? He apparently unfriended you and then changed his privacy settings…yet you contacted his wife to inquire about him? Sounds like he did the right thing. No, I’m not a stalker. I contacted his wife _after_ this strange thing with the profile happened. And his reply to my brief message accompanying the friend request was congenial and friendly. I was not harassing him in any way whatsoever. The author is named Steve Keshner. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/16 "2009-11-20T20:49:01Z")
Here: [Redirecting...](http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000033758020) The result that comes up in Google has an alias (stevekeshner) that appears to no longer work. I found the above profile by using Facebook’s internal search. If it doesn’t work for you, I assume he has you blocked. I am able to see his profile picture and a list of his friends. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/17 "2009-11-20T20:53:51Z")
That’s the wrong Steve Keshner. I saw his profile; I remember what he looked like, and he most definitely was not that guy. This writer’s Facebook listing is for “Steve Keshner” and not “Steven Keshner.” Do you see a “Steve Keshner”? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/18 "2009-11-20T20:56:21Z")
Negative. No search results for “Steve Keshner” and the Google search just takes me to the main Facebook homepage. Looks like his profile is gone for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/19 "2009-11-20T21:08:23Z")
If it helps, I have (had?) a friend who had several mutual friends. I noticed I hadn’t seen any updates from her recently. I couldn’t find her via search, and she had disappeared from my friends list. Similarly, when I went to photos and whatnot that we had comments on together, her name was not a hyperlink and her profile picture wasn’t there. I checked with a mutual friend to see if she was still visible to him. She was. I don’t know if she unfriended me or blocked me. I suspect the latter because as you already mentioned, this wasn’t the same experience I had when others had un-friended and I found them again. I don’t know what I did to get myself blocked. She was a friend from high school (15 years ago). She is a few years younger and had a bit of a crush on me. I guess that she saw enough about me / talked to me enough to gather whatever info she was looking for and then move on. I don’t think she was looking to see my relationship status as much as she was probably just curious about how my life turned out. And then when that curiosity was satisfied she decided she didn’t want me peeking at her profile any longer. I’m curious as to why she blocked me, but not enough to have mutual friends relay messages back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273/20 "2009-11-20T21:35:58Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Negative. No search results for “Steve Keshner” and the Google search just takes me to the main Facebook homepage. Looks like his profile is gone for some reason. Same result for me. Although in the Google results I clicked on the “cached” copy of his page - try that and see if it’s the same one. Let me see if I can link it: [http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:7rmk8CRjgu4J:www.facebook.com/STEVEKESHNER+Steve+Keshner&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us](http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:7rmk8CRjgu4J:www.facebook.com/STEVEKESHNER+Steve+Keshner&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) Try to look at one of his friend’s profiles and see if his name is still linked… Very strange indeed… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-facebook-profile/518273.md?page=2)