The first thing that you need to understand when you see a blocked message on Facebook is that these blocks are always temporary. This is different from accounts that have been disabled, for instance because of abuse of the system or other activities that have led to this.

There are three major types of blocked features that Facebook has at its disposal:

• Blocked from sending friend requests
• Blocked from sending messages
• Blocked from using a particular feature on Facebook

Blocked from sending friend requests

One of the reasons why you may have been blocked from sending out friend requests is because some that you have sent out in the past have been marked as unwelcome by recipients or have not been answered at all by those Facebook users.

This block is usually accompanied by being blocked from sending messages to people on Facebook that you are not friends with.

Facebook suggests to only send friend requests to people that you know personally, family, friends or coworkers come to mind to reduce the chance of being blocked in this way.

All other activities on Facebook remain active during the time period. We have seen bans range from 24 hours to seven days before they are lifted and you can send out friend requests again.

Blocked from sending messages

When Facebook has blocked you from sending out messages, it is usually because you either had send out a lot of messages in a relatively short period of time, or because Facebook members who received messages by you have reported them as unwelcome to the social networking site.

This is another temporary ban that can last for up to seven days. Nothing that you do in that period of time will lift the ban prematurely. Keep in mind that deleting old messages won’t lift it as well. It is obviously different for hacked accounts, as your account will likely be reinstated without being blocked from sending messages in this case once the issue has been resolved fully.

Blocked from using a feature

The third and final type is being blocked from accessing or using particular features on the site other than inviting new people to become friends or sending messages.

This may be because you have used a feature a lot in a relatively short period of time, think comments on pages or walls for instance, or too many chat requests or messages.

The block, like the others is temporary in nature and it may take days before it gets lifted. What you need to know as well is that using the feature while you are being blocked may extend the blocked period.

Facebook notes that further misuse of the feature after the block has been lifted may result in longer blocks or even termination of the account. It is therefor suggested to slow down activities that led to the block to avoid this from happening to the account.