Rule in the New Frontier: Facebook’s Terms & Conditions Posted on February 23, 2009 Post a comment

Did you know the 175 million Facebook user population is larger than the sixth most populated country in the world? That’s more people than France, Italy, and Spain combined. This could make Facebook’s founding father and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the most influential 24-year-old in the world. However, Facebook’s recent debacle of amended, and then quickly reinstated, Terms & Conditions, which ignited millions of Facebook “citizens” to voice their opinions, proves that the power still belongs to the people.

As the story spurred from one dramatic consumerist article, it intensified in the blogosphere. There were seemingly unlimited angles for the media to write and rewrite about Facebook:
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• Legal Action: The Complaint Almost Filed Against Facebook
• Internet Accelerates Results, as Facebook Saga Shows

One piece of important information, almost never left out, was Mark Zuckerberg’s blogs:

“Our terms aren’t just a document that protect our rights; it’s the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.”

“Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”

Zuckerberg goes on to say, “If you’d like to get involved in crafting our new terms… you can start posting your questions, comments, and requests in the group we’ve created--Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. I’m looking forward to reading your input.”

Not only is this swift turnaround admirable, but likely unprecedented in a traditional sovereign country. To that point, the request for additional user input solidifies that the faces of Facebook will continue to have a say in how they are ruled.

Social networks are still exploring the new frontier of online living for their users. It’s comforting that “citizen” input is still welcomed by network creators and that the contributions are fundamental to community development. Let’s hope Facebook and others will continue to listen, so that this positive example won’t be the last.