If Facebook changed your profile email to @facebook.com

It has come to my attention that Facebook.com has replaced the email addresses displayed by users in their profiles by @facebook.com addresses. They have done this without asking and without announcing the users and by hiding the addresses initially selected by the users. More, some users report that the @facebook addresses pushed by the social network are not working. I tested it myself and I did not receive the email I sent to this address they added to my profile.

[UPDATE] Some users report that the normal way of receiving these messages @facebook.com from people you are not connected with is under a sub-section named Other not directly visible from your page until you click on the Messages link. There is no indication that you received messages from other people than friends when you visit facebook.com and no email notification is sent to your original email address. Now, when the default address is @facebook.com, if one does not use facebook messaging system directly and continues to wait for messages in his/her regular email inbox, they surely will be surprised that messages they do not know about from potential clients are piling up and waiting in an yet unknown place/folder called “Other” visible only under certain circumstances. [/UPDATE]

For professionals that have created facebook accounts to get in touch with clients through this social network, expecting contact in their regular email account, this may lead to loosing potential clients, missing important messages and ultimately business opportunities. 

I did not look over their TOS yet but loosing opportunity because the network decided to hide personal contact information a user has chosen to display by replacing it with unwanted personal contact information is not something desirable, so to speak.

If you want to check if your profile email has been changed and put back the email of your choosing then follow these simple steps:

1. Login to your facebook.com account

2. Click on your name at the top of the page or at the top-left of the page AND then click INFO below your picture:

3. Scroll down to your “Contact Information” section and if your email is changed and want to switch back to the original address click on the “Edit” link:

Notice how all other addresses are hidden and only @facebook has an empty circle near it, meaning it is the only one shown in profile:

4. Hide the @facebook address by clicking on the circle next to it and selecting “Hidden from Profile”

5. Show the desired address by similarly clicking on the circle next to it and select “Shown on Profile”

6. Then don’t forget to SAVE CHANGES and to check your profile again.