Please keep in mind that only your confirmed friends can contact you via Facebook Chat. We recommend that you remove this user from your Friend List. If necessary, you may block the person by listing his or her name in the 'Blocking People' box at the bottom of the Privacy page.

Facebook has limits in place to prevent behavior that others may find annoying or abusive. These limits restrict the rate at which you can use certain features on the site. If you received a warning for going too fast when sending messages, you will need to temporarily stop this activity to avoid hitting a message block on your account.

For future reference, please keep the following policies in mind:

• Facebook prides itself in protecting users from spam and does not allow users to send messages promoting or advertising a product, service, or opportunity.
• Unsolicited messages of any kind will not be tolerated.
  
  

Some users are seeing a "Could not connect to Facebook Chat at this time" or a yellow exclamation point in the bottom right corner of the screen. To submit a report about this, please click here.

This application is not built or operated by Facebook. If you are seeing a "Facebook Captcha" and being asked to confirm your date of birth, please contact Adium for more information or follow along in their blog.

If you are experiencing problems with Facebook Chat, you may need to upgrade your browser.

If you’re using Internet Explorer 6.0, you can still use chat by popping out the chat window. Just click the Chat button near the top right of any page on Facebook to start chatting.

To resolve this issue, please complete the following steps:

1. Go to "Page" on your IE8 taskbar.
2. Select Compatibility Settings.
3. Next to facebook.com click "Add".
4. Restart your browser

Sometimes while chatting with friends, it will appear that they have signed off of Facebook. To submit a report about this, please click here.

If the Chat menu does not expand when you click on it, please restart your browser and try again. If you are using an old browser such as Internet Explorer 6, you will need to upgrade your browser to be able to see the Chat menu. If you continue to have problems, please submit a report here.

To enable the notification sound, please follow the steps below:

1. Select the chat menu button in the lower right corner of any Facebook page.
2. Click the "Settings" link.
3. Check the box next to "Play Sound for New Messages."

If you are still unable to hear the sound, please log out of your account and sign back in.

While chatting, some users are seeing "An unexpected error occurred" message in the Chat box. Please report this issue here.

Facebook has several features in place to limit the potential for abusive or annoying behaviors on the site. One of these features is a cap on the speed and frequency at which a user sends messages to other users while using the Inbox.

Please note that even if all of your conversations were legitimate interactions with friends, our Inbox message service is not a chat client and should not be treated as such. As a recommended alternative, we suggest that you check out the Facebook Chat feature, which allows you to exchange real-time messages with your confirmed Facebook friends.

To start using Facebook Chat, click the Chat icon in the bottom right corner of any Facebook page, and choose the "Go Online" option. You can start a conversation with any confirmed Facebook friend by clicking on their name in the "Online Friends" list. Once you send a message, your friend will receive an alert at the bottom of their screen, and they can reply by typing in the conversation box provided.

We want Facebook to remain an environment where people can connect and share comfortably. Cyberbullying is defined as the use of any new technology to harass or intimidate someone and is considered to be abusive behavior from minor to minor, while cyberharassment typically involves adults. There are steps you can take to prevent this kind of behavior if it occurs.

Accept Friend Requests Safely

In order to prevent harassment from strangers, be careful to accept friend requests only from people you know in real life. Also, remember to report any messages or profiles that look suspicious. Facebook is based on a real-name culture, and fake profiles are regularly disabled when they're reported to us. Please also keep in mind that only confirmed friends can post to your Wall or contact you via Facebook Chat, so if you're worried that someone will make inappropriate posts or send offensive messages, just ignore that person's friend request.

Use the "Block" Feature to Stop Abusive Behavior

A block prevents specific people from viewing your profile. When you block people, any ties you currently have with them will be broken, and these people won't be able to contact you through Facebook. If you receive inappropriate or abusive communication, you can block the person by listing his or her name in the "Block People" box at the bottom of your Privacy Settings page. You can visit this page at any time by hovering your mouse over the "Settings" link at the top of any Facebook page and selecting the "Privacy Settings" option from the drop-down menu that appears.

Report Abusive Behavior Directly to Facebook

The most efficient way to report abuse is to do it in the same place it occurs on Facebook. For example, if you receive a harassing message in your Inbox, you can report the message by clicking on the "Report" link next to the sender's name as you are reading the message. If you receive a harassing message from a person who is a Facebook friend of yours, you should remove the person as a friend and report the message. Reporting the message as harassing will automatically add this person to your Block list. You can also use the "Report/Block person" link that appears at the bottom of the abusive user's profile. If you learn that someone is continuing to make abusive comments about you even after you've blocked them, you can ask a friend to report that person on your behalf. Reports are confidential and the user being reported does not know that they have been reported. After a report is submitted, we will investigate the issue and make a determination as to whether or not the content should remain on the site based on our Terms of Use. A Facebook administrator looks into each report thoroughly in order to decide the appropriate course of action.

Restrict Privacy Settings

To restrict the amount of information that potential bullies may have access to, customize your privacy settings so that certain people can't access information like your Wall, photos, or profile. You can also change your privacy settings if you are uncomfortable being found in searches or having your profile viewed publicly. Privacy on Facebook is controlled primarily from the Privacy Settings page. You can visit this page at any time by hovering your mouse over the "Settings" link at the top of any page of Facebook and selecting the "Privacy Settings" option from the drop-down menu that appears.

Respond to Abusers in the Right Way

Cyberbullies often seek a reaction from the people they harass. When they fail to get one, they often give up gradually. Rather than responding to a bully via Inbox, a Wall post, or Facebook Chat, you can delete offensive posts from your Wall or messages from your Inbox and then use the "Block" or "Report" functions to resolve the issue safely. To delete an offensive Wall post, hover over the post in question, click the "Remove" button that appears, and select "Delete" in the dialogue box. To delete a message from Inbox, simply click the "Delete" button at the top of the message. Only confirmed friends can post to your Wall or send you a message through Chat. If you are receiving posts and Chat messages you don't like, you should consider removing the sender from your friends list.

These tips have been reviewed by stopcyberbullying.org and connectsafely.org, two independent organizations that provide tools, resources, and educational materials on internet safety including cyberbullying and cyberharassment.

ConnectSafely.org offers additional information on cyberbullying and cyberharassment at http://www.connectsafely.org/Safety-Tips/tips-to-help-stop-cyberbullying.html.

Stopcyberbullying.org offers information on preventing cyberbullying and cyberharassment at http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/prevention/index.html.

Facebook is a member of the StopCyberbullying Coalition, a movement to understand, prevent, and address cyberbullying affiliated with stopcyberbullying.org.

We are currently working with people whose accounts have been affected by money transfer scams. Please use caution around messages from friends claiming to be stranded and asking for money.

Your friend's Facebook account may have been compromised by cybercriminals attempting to impersonate them. Most frequently, these criminals will gain control of a Facebook account, and use the Chat or Status features to claim they are stuck in a far away location and in need of financial assistance.

If you have received a message like this, please enter your friend's account information in this form so that we can make sure your friend's account is secure.

We are currently working with people whose accounts have been affected by money transfer scams

The money transfer scam is characterized by cybercriminals using Facebook in an attempt to trick your friends into sending them money. Most frequently, these criminals will gain control of a Facebook account, and use the Chat or Status features to claim that you are stuck in a far away location and in need of financial assistance.

It is possible that your email account was compromised as well, as obtaining access to a victim’s email is one of the primary ways these cybercriminals have been operating. Please take the following steps to ensure the security of your Facebook account:

1. Select a unique and complex password for your Facebook account and keep this entirely to yourself. You can do this from the Account Settings page of your Facebook account or by using the "Forgot Password" link on the login page.



2. Select a new, unique password for any email address associated with your account, making sure to avoid using the same password for any account.



3. Verify that you control all of the email addresses associated with your account on the Contact Email section at:

https://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php


4. Add a security question to your account from the Account Settings page if you have not done so already.



5. Visit the following page for more information about Facebook security and how to report suspicious material:

http://www.facebook.com/security

If you require further assistance in securing your account, please enter your account information in this form so that we can make sure your account is secure.

Facebook has limits in place to prevent behavior that others may find annoying or abusive. These limits restrict the rate at which you can use certain features on the site. If you received a warning for going too fast when sending messages, you will need to temporarily stop this activity to avoid hitting a message block on your account.

For future reference, please keep the following policies in mind:

• Facebook prides itself in protecting users from spam and does not allow users to send messages promoting or advertising a product, service, or opportunity.
• The Inbox functionality is not intended for the purpose of having live conversations with people. If you would like to do this, we recommend using the Facebook Chat feature.
• Unsolicited messages of any kind will not be tolerated.

Many questions are answered here in the Help Center. Try searching above.

You can find documentation, code samples, and client libraries on the Developer Wiki.

The Developer Forum is a place to discuss or inquire about technical issues, policy matters or documentation.

The Facebook Platform IRC channel is a good place to chat with other developers and Facebook team members in real time.

You can determine which applications generate Wall stories, and what kinds of stories they generate, by clicking on the "Applications" button at the left end of the Chat bar at the bottom of any Facebook page and then clicking on the "Edit" link in the Applications menu. Next, click on the "Wall Permissions" tab to see a list of applications that are authorized to publish Wall stories.

You now have a variety of application settings to fine-tune your interactions with applications on Facebook. To get started, click on the "Applications" button at the left end of the Chat bar at the bottom of any Facebook page. In the menu that appears, click on the "Edit" link and you’ll be taken to the Edit Applications page, where you will see:

1. Bookmarks. Edit the settings of your bookmarked applications.
2. Authorized. Edit the settings of applications that you have used and allowed to access your information.
3. Wall Permissions. Determine what types of stories you want to appear related to these applications.
4. Additional Permissions. Adjust an application's ability to email you or access your data while offline (for example, a friend of yours might want to use an application with you even while you're not logged in to Facebook).
5. External Website Settings. Change your settings for external websites here.

If an application supports profile boxes, you can control whether or not it displays on your profile by editing the application’s settings. To do this, click on the "Applications" button at the left end of the Chat bar at the bottom of any Facebook page. In the menu that appears, click on the "Edit" link and you’ll be taken to the Edit Applications page. On this page, click on the "Edit" link to the right of the application in question and then click on the "Profile" tab in the window that appears. Please keep in mind that not all applications will support a profile box or tab, even if this setting appears (i.e. Facebook Events does not have a Profile Box, even though it has a "Profile Box" privacy setting).

Bookmarking an application adds it to the Applications menu at the left end of the Chat Bar at the bottom of your screen. Your top 6 bookmarked applications will also appear in the Chat Bar by themselves. A bookmarked application is one that you can easily access at any time.

If you are using an application and have not yet bookmarked it, you will see its icon in the Chat Bar with a green plus sign on it. Clicking this icon will add bookmark the application. You can manage your bookmarks at any time by clicking on the "Applications" button at the left end of the Chat bar at the bottom of any Facebook page and then clicking on the "Edit" link in the Applications menu. Next, click on the "Edit" link to the right of the application in question and then click on the "Bookmark" tab in the window that appears.

You can remove an application you have authorized to your account by clicking on the "Applications" button at the left end of the Chat bar at the bottom of any Facebook page. In the menu that appears, click on the "Edit" link and you’ll be taken to the Edit Applications page. From there, click on the "Edit" link to the right of the application in question. Finally, click on the "Remove" link to the right of the application in question.

If you deactivate your account, your profile and all information associated with it are immediately made inaccessible to other Facebook users. What this means is that you effectively disappear from the Facebook service. However, we do save your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc.), so if you want to reactivate at some point, your account will look just the way it did when you deactivated. Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service.

If you permanently delete your account, all personally identifiable information associated with your account will be purged from our database. This includes information like your name, email address, mailing address, and IM screen name. Copies of some material (photos, notes, etc.) may remain in our servers for technical reasons, but this material is disassociated from any personal identifiers and completely inaccessible to other users. Facebook also does not use content associated with accounts that have been deactivated or deleted.

Lexicon data is completely anonymous and simply looks at how popular words are on Facebook’s public and semi-public forums. All personally identifiable information is removed before the Wall posts are aggregated. Lexicon does not look at any private data, such as data from messages, Chat, invitations, or searches.