Still not on Facebook, but here comes another blog about just that topic. It seems the power of the people is enough to make Mark Zuckerberg change his mind, for now. Facebook made headlines (again) yesterday for their decision to revert back to their old terms of use. You may recall that several weeks prior, Facebook amended their terms to exclude the portion stating that users could remove their content at any time. In addition, they added new language stating that Facebook would retain users’ content after an account was terminated.
The blog “Consumerist” reported the Facebook terms of use change by saying “anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later.” First of all, who regularly reads the terms of use to even notice a seemingly minor change like this? In protest, some Facebook users created online groups to oppose the changes. The attached article cites that “thousands” of people commented on the change. So, what percent is that of the 175 million users worldwide? Less than 1%. Were any of those concerned Facebookers going to terminate their accounts because Facebook wants to use their personal information to sell to marketers? I can’t answer for everyone, but the impression I get from friends who live on Facebook is no. Honestly, they couldn’t care less about Facebook changing their terms of use, and the only reason I found out is because the article was one of the top headlines of the day. People protested because that’s what people do in our society. I think it’s doubtful that this change would have had any major lasting affect on Facebook.
Could Mark Zuckerberg steal everyone’s information and get away with it? Probably, but he didn’t. I’m guessing he decided to promptly apologize and withdraw the change because it made him look bad in the media. After watching his interview on dateline or 60 mins it was obvious that he’s an intelligent person. I’m confident that Mark Zuckerberg will come up with a new way to own every piece of information on Facebook and have everyone love him for doing it. Genius.
The blog “Consumerist” reported the Facebook terms of use change by saying “anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later.” First of all, who regularly reads the terms of use to even notice a seemingly minor change like this? In protest, some Facebook users created online groups to oppose the changes. The attached article cites that “thousands” of people commented on the change. So, what percent is that of the 175 million users worldwide? Less than 1%. Were any of those concerned Facebookers going to terminate their accounts because Facebook wants to use their personal information to sell to marketers? I can’t answer for everyone, but the impression I get from friends who live on Facebook is no. Honestly, they couldn’t care less about Facebook changing their terms of use, and the only reason I found out is because the article was one of the top headlines of the day. People protested because that’s what people do in our society. I think it’s doubtful that this change would have had any major lasting affect on Facebook.
Could Mark Zuckerberg steal everyone’s information and get away with it? Probably, but he didn’t. I’m guessing he decided to promptly apologize and withdraw the change because it made him look bad in the media. After watching his interview on dateline or 60 mins it was obvious that he’s an intelligent person. I’m confident that Mark Zuckerberg will come up with a new way to own every piece of information on Facebook and have everyone love him for doing it. Genius.
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