cited: Washington Post

Facebook proposed a set of changes to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities on its blog today. The document establishes users’ rights and Facebook’s Terms of Service. The changes are reported to “mostly include clarifying changes and minor updates”, but at least one change carries significant weight: Facebook users are banned from “using their personal profiles for their own commercial gain”. This is most specifically a measure against users selling their status updates to advertisers.

This stands in stark contrast to Twitter, which permits (or at least, doesn’t actively discourage) so-called “Sponsored Tweets”, which typically include a link to an online store along with a tag indicating that a tweet was sponsored. The idea behind such updates is that users can share products they like with their friends and make money in the process, but it’s a system that can quickly devolve into a spam fest. With plenty of services in this space that include Izea and Magpie, the PayPerPost model is becoming disturbingly popular on Twitter.

Of course, Facebook offers Pages which do allow for commercially-sponsored updates. But the distinction between the two types of profiles are quite clear, and I don’t object to status updates from celebrities endorsing a product nearly as much as I would if it came from one of my friends who became overly-greedy. 

One other significant change comes in the way Facebook regards users who are accessing the site from countries that the US has an embargo against. The current terms state that users “will not use Facebook if you are located in a country embargoed by the U.S., or are on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals.” Facebook has now revised this to only apply to commercial activities, with the new proposed terms stating:

We strive to create a global community with consistent standards for everyone, but we also strive to respect local laws. The following provisions apply to users outside the United States: 1.You consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. 2.If you are located in a country embargoed by the United States, or are on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals you will not engage in commercial activities on Facebook (such as advertising or payments) or operate a Platform application or website.

Right now, these changes are only suggested. Facebook is opening the process up to users, asking for their two cents over the next week. That means all those in favor of spammy statuses- or against Cuban networkers- can get in on the debate. The website is also making strides towards making their Terms of Service polishing process clearer.

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My Take

It may be a sign of the times, but hip hip hooray for Facebook- a beacon of democracy and progress (oh, yeah, and Obama’s alright, too). Who ever heard of such a fantastically popular company actually opening up their policies to the community in the ratification process? Lord knows, we won’t see this from Congress or Microsoft anytime soon.

So make sure to make your opinion heard over the next week. Otherwise, you don’t get to complain when you miss seeing Viagra statuses in your newsfeed.

Again, my hat’s off to Facebook. They are staying heads and shoulders above the competition, and every day they make keeping in touch so much more painless. But don’t let my mother know, or she’ll be wondering why I don’t write her more.

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