Tranter Banter

If your Facebook cover photo has been removed, you are not alone.  You are not imagining things.  In just a matter of days, Facebook has wiped out cover photos on countless pages. 

The incident was first reported by Mashable, a leading internet news blog site, when several staffers noticed that their cover photos were missing.  Originally, there was no explanation as to why these photos were removed so Mashable emailed Facebook.  In response, Facebook replied that they had not changed their policy regarding photos as outlined in the Terms of Service.  Facebook went on to specify that a cover photo should be a “unique image that represents your Page.”

Reasons photos have been missing appear to be possibly related to a copyright violation or anything deemed “promotional.”  Users report images such as those from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Axl Rose, The Hobbit, Doctor Who and more have been removed.  One user even reported that a picture of himself with his Twitter name had been removed. 

Users are now reporting that in response to complaints, Facebook is posting this message when users attempt to upload a new cover photo:

                “Pick a unique photo from your life to feature at the top of your timeline. Note: This space is not meant for banner ads or other promotions. Please don’t use content that is commercial, promotional, copyright-infringing or already in use on other people’s covers.”

Users may want to take a look at their Facebook cover photo and make sure that it fits into Facebook’s guidelines.  If you believe there might be a problem with your photo, it might be best to be proactive and change the photo yourself before Facebook does.   This seems to be a pattern that is emerging from Facebook and is a glimpse of more to come.

I would be interested in hearing of any incidents where Facebook may have changed a reader’s photo without the reader’s knowledge and what the photo consisted of.