There has been quite the uproar about the new “terms of service” and their assertions that it’s ok that they own your content forever because we can trust Mark Zuckerberg. (Insert basket of kittens and dancing unicorns here) Well, I feel better now. Do you? The brouhaha is of course centered around the fact that Team Facebook can use your content in any way they choose, even long after you’ve deleted your profile, because they own it. Obviously, people went a little batshit when they found that out and Facebook did some speedy back peddling after they realized exactly how much shit was hitting their fan.
Now, I can’t possibly fathom a case where they would want random pictures of yours truly so, though I’m bothered by it, I’m not exactly panicking that my face will appear on billboards in New York selling Facebook sponsored diet pills or endorsing a sleezeball singles site. However, it does pose an interesting question; what about people who make their blog post available through Crackbook? Or the huge amount of recording artists and actors whose images are closely tied to their way of making a living? Matt Good is my friend on Facebook (Yeah, we hang out, best buds, go way back, lie, lie, lie.) and he has a great deal of content on his profile that is relevant to his career. The new wording of the “terms of service” implied that Facebook could pull those concert pictures, lyrics, etc at will and do whatever they damn well please with them…..forever.
I think they changed their position back to the “old” terms of service knowing full well that the number of users, particularly those in the public eye, would start dropping off en masse. I’m sure they’re in their secret mountain laboratory right now coming up with better wording to cover up their plot to take over the world. This grand scheme will of course be “endorsed” by multitudes of smiling celebrities whose photos are pulled from Facebook profiles without the need to bother with the annoying step of permission.
So in future, Facebook friends, read the fine print.
