In February this year Facebook quietly changed their Terms of Service, the rules that govern the relationship between Facebook and its users. The changes meant that Facebook had “an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license” to use members’ content (the pictures and other information that you put on the site). The new rules also meant that Facebook could use your content even after you deleted it, left the site, or the website shut down. Facebook's use of content was limited by users' privacy settings, but it still meant that content could be used in ways you might never have intended when you uploaded it, like in their advertising.
Most users didn't notice the change. Most users didn’t even read the Terms of Service—like me, you probably just scrolled through the pages of confusing legal jargon, clicked 'I Agree', and moved on. Luckily, a writer for
The Consumerist picked up on the change, and wrote about it.
The response was huge. The article attracted 206 comments and many other news sites picked up the story. Tens of thousands of Facebook users began to protest on the site by joining a group called 'The People Against the New Terms of Service'. Other users left the site, or threatened to leave. Several organisations also got involved and threatened to file a complaint of “unfair and deceptive trade practices” with the US Federal Trade Commission.
Facebook listened. Within a few days Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, wrote a blog post saying that the old Terms of Service would be put back, and users would be consulted on creating new ones. He also said that future Terms would be written in clearer language, and pointed users towards a new group called 'Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities' where they could have input into Facebook's rules. Facebook has also responded similarly to complaints about the new layout, and has promised to make it easier for users to control what they see on their homepage.
Social networking sites like Facebook rely on the contributions that users make. Without our pictures, status updates, and quiz results Facebook would be empty. The same is true for other sites—what would YouTube be without people posting their ukelele version of Eminem songs? Would MySpace be worth visiting if your friends weren't there? Would you visit ActNow if you couldn't read articles submitted by other young people? These sites rely on us, on all the wonderful art, trivial updates, and angsty poetry that we post to them. That means that they have a responsibility to us, and also that we have the power to change them.
At the same time, these sites are important to our communities. A 2008 study of teenagers in 25 countries found that young people spend an average of 2.5 hours online every day, while a 2009 UK study found that teenagers spend around 31 hours a week online. I'm not sure about you, but I check my three email accounts at least every day, post to Facebook, check what my friends are up to on livejournal, and look for new articles on ActNow. Social networking sites connect my friends together by making it easier to share photos, keep up-to-date on what's happening with everyone, and organise events.
This is why we have to pay attention to how these sites are run, and make our voices heard when they head in the wrong direction. It might seem like a hassle to read through all those rules before you click 'I Agree', but it could be worthwhile. Do you really want that terrible photo of you falling over in the mud used in an ad? We should also think about the ways we can change online communities even when nothing's going wrong. Do you have ideas about how to make the ActNow website better? Remember, ActNow is built on your ideas and your involvement, and you can make your voice heard.
How do I know this?
Baig E, 'Facebook retains Terms of Service after users voice concerns',
www.blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/02/facebook-data-p.html,
Technology Live, 2009, viewed 23 March 2009.
'Concern over new Facebook content rules',
www.sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/02/16/daily7.html,
San Jose Business Journal, 2009, viewed 3 March 2009.
'Facts and Features: young people spend an average of 2.5 hours a day online, finds Synovate',
Aegis, www.aegisplc.com/ags/media/facts/fc2008/online/ 2008, viewed 23 March 2009.
'Facebook vows 'improvements' after user backlash',
ABC News, 2009, viewed 27 March 2009.
Ionescu D, 'Rewriting Facebook's Terms of Service',
www.pcworld.com/article/160358/
rewriting_facebooks_terms_of_service.html,
2009, viewed on 3 March 2009.
McCarthy C, 'Facebook faces furor over content rights',
www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/facebook.terms.service/,
CNN, 2009, viewed 3 March 2009.
Stone B and B Stelter, 'Facebook withdraws changes in data use',
www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/technology/internet/19facebook.html?fta=y The New York Times, 2009, viewed 23 March 2009.
'Teenagers 'spend an average of 31 hours online'',
www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/
technology/4574792/Teenagers-spend-an-average-of-31-hours-online.html,
The Telegraph, 2009, viewed 23 March 2009.
Walters C, 'Facebook's new Terms of Service: “We can do anything with your content. Forever”',
www.consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever,
The Consumerist, 2009, viewed 23 March 2009.
Zuckerberg M, 'Update on Terms',
www.blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=54746167130,
The Facebook Blog, 2009, viewed February 20.
Zuckerberg M, 'On Facebook, people own and control their information',
www.blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=54434097130,
The Facebook Blog, 2009, viewed February 20.
