Friends showing "This name is unavailable" in dashboard

[Louisa2017]

A friend who was online just yesterday is missing from my group but still in it according to her inworld profile. In fact her name is missing in all her groups that i have looked in.

On dashboard people page, her web profile shows as "This name is unavailable". What causes this?

[Alwin Alcott]

could be a bug .. as there are quite some recently... but also could mean your friend has a deleted account (ban)
Does the name show up in search?

[Louisa2017]

No, she doesnt show up in search

[Cindy Evanier]

It could be she paid for a name change and its still updating or as Alwin said deleted or banned account.  If it was a bug I would think it would affect more than one person but expect the unexpected 

[Louisa2017]

Thanks, yeah you just never know in sl. I found a happy offline from her when i logged in, but also gone from group and unavailable web profile.

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 hours ago, Louisa2017 said:

Thanks, yeah you just never know in sl. I found a happy offline from her when i logged in, but also gone from group and unavailable web profile.

Web profile search has been really wonky for people lately.  If you use Firestorm, you can double-check by pulling up the search window, switch to the People tab and try the search there.

[Louisa2017]

2 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Web profile search has been really wonky for people lately.  If you use Firestorm, you can double-check by pulling up the search window, switch to the People tab and try the search there.

She doesnt appear in that search either

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 minutes ago, Louisa2017 said:

She doesnt appear in that search either

Very likely the account has been deleted at user request or banned then.

When accounts are deleted or banned, if you can pull up their profile via a Friends list or calling card, they will still show all of their previous groups, but the groups will not show them because they really have been removed from the groups.  I'm not sure why the groups continue to show on the profile, I just know they do from a few friends that have left SL over the years - ones that requested their accounts be deleted.

Also note that it takes a while for a deleted account to no longer show in search, whereas a banned account will not show as soon as the ban happens.

Edited January 20, 2021 by LittleMe Jewell

[Louisa2017]

23 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Very likely the account has been deleted at user request or banned then.

When accounts are deleted or banned, if you can pull up their profile via a Friends list or calling card, they will still show all of their previous groups, but the groups will not show them because they really have been removed from the groups.  I'm not sure why the groups continue to show on the profile, I just know they do from a few friends that have left SL over the years - ones that requested their accounts be deleted.

Also note that it takes a while for a deleted account to no longer show in search, whereas a banned account will not show as soon as the ban happens.

This has happened overnight, everything was fine yesterday. If it's a ban, for whatever reason, is that permanent? Would she receive any offlines?

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 minutes ago, Louisa2017 said:

This has happened overnight, everything was fine yesterday. If it's a ban, for whatever reason, is that permanent? Would she receive any offlines?

A ban is considered permanent unless the person appeals it and is successful.  

Since the account no longer exists in SL's eyes, I would not expect her to be able to receive IMs offline.   Heck, even though she is still in your Friends list, you might not even be able to actually IM her anymore.

[Louisa2017]

18 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

A ban is considered permanent unless the person appeals it and is successful.  

Since the account no longer exists in SL's eyes, I would not expect her to be able to receive IMs offline.   Heck, even though she is still in your Friends list, you might not even be able to actually IM her anymore.

I can still IM her, they just go to offline. Though I guess she will not receive them.