I was asked today, in response to my "I am Fr. Justin!" post, "So what made FB agree to allow your title and not allow it for so many others?"
It's a good question - one I have been asking myself, and one to which I do not know the answer. I think it must be some combination of the following:
Facebook seems to be relenting on more cases than just mine. I noticed Abbot Tryphon back on Facebook as "Abbot Tryphon", for example.
I was not willing to compromise or go quietly, and I was willing to give up my Facebook profile, if necessary. I know of other Orthodox clergy who simply accepted Facebook's terms and quietly eliminated their title from their profile name to get past the review process.
I am a bit of an "edge-case", like Abbot Tryphon, in that the vast majority of the people who know me on Facebook do not use (and, in some cases, do not even know) my legal name at all.
Maybe "Greer" of Facebook Community Operations (the person who handled my case) is just a nicer guy/gal than most! Or maybe Facebook is just quietly responding to the ever-increasing public outcry over this issue.
Whatever the reason (or combination of reasons) I am thankful - and hopeful that others will now be able to change their profile names back to something that more accurately reflects their public identities.
"Why me?"
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