So you’re looking at your Facebook Messenger, scrolling through your conversations. Suddenly, you see something curious: a blank chat box without a profile picture on it. Weirdly enough, the mysterious profile doesn’t even have a name. Only the words ‘Facebook User’ is written where the name is supposed to go. What exactly is happening here? Why is there no name and profile picture? What does ‘Facebook User’ mean and should you be wary when you see this?
What Does Facebook User Mean?
If you see a profile with no picture that is just called Facebook User, it simply means that the owner of this profile has an account that is not live at the moment.
1 What Does Facebook User Mean?1.1 Deactivated Account1.2 Deleted Account2 Have I Been Blocked By The Facebook User’s Profile?3 Explaining Facebook User
This account can’t be viewed because the owners are not on Facebook anymore, whether temporarily or permanently. Here’s a detailed explanation of the two reasons why Facebook User appears instead of the name.
Deactivated Account
If an account is deactivated, the profile will no longer be visible, but all the data and information will still be stored in case the account reactivated again. Other users will not be able to search for the profile though, nor look at the user’s timeline or any of the uploaded media. However, messages that have been sent to the user’s contacts are still saved to the latter’s devices. In fact, a chat conversation can still be viewed, except the name of the deactivated user will be replaced with ‘Facebook User.’ They will also have no picture, other than Facebook’s stock profile photo. Once the person reactivates their account, their original profile name will replace ‘Facebook User.’
Deleted Account
A deleted account is when the user decides to permanently part with their Facebook account. If this happens, the account is no longer recoverable. Attached Facebook apps will no longer be usable, such as Facebook Messenger, and other accounts that have been registered using the Facebook account will be taken down, too. Videos and photos uploaded, posts created or shared, and basically everything on the account will be permanently removed. As with deactivated users, messages that deleted accounts sent out to their contacts are still stored in the latter’s devices. This means that even if a user deletes their account, you’ll still be able to access your conversation with that user, albeit under the name ‘Facebook User.’ The only real difference between a deleted account and a deactivated account is that the deactivated account may be reactivated whenever the user wants. Both, however, will show up as Facebook User on Messenger to any contact that they had a conversation with.
Have I Been Blocked By The Facebook User’s Profile?
The short answer is no, you probably haven’t been blocked. Again, the easiest explanation is that the user simply deactivated or deleted their account. However, there are a few ways this could look similar to being blocked, such as the user not appearing on your Friends list, not being able to find them in the search bar, and not being able to send messages to them. There are a lot of other things you can check to see if you’ve been blocked by a user. Here are some examples:
You can’t locate them in your friend’s listYou can’t tag them in postsYou can’t invite them to groups or eventsTheir posts no longer appear on your FB feedThey can’t be located in FB searchFacebook won’t allow you to send messages to themTheir profile page displays ‘unavailable’ when you try to view it
If you believe that a friend has blocked you on Facebook, simply ask a mutual friend to check their profile with their account. If they haven’t been blocked, then they’ll still see the profile. This usually proves quite successful, unless they’ve also been blocked, as well.
Explaining Facebook User
Next time you’re wondering what does Facebook User mean, don’t worry. It’s just a name that Facebook gives to the remnants of accounts that aren’t currently active. The person hasn’t blocked you nor is it some malicious virus – they simply deactivated or deleted their account out of their own free will. Did you like this article? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below!
