Facebook polls users on service terms update
The recent uproar over Facebook's changed terms of service has been significant.
Even after CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a statement on behalf of Facebook regarding the issue, it appears that Facebook wants more feedback from its users. Facebook has begun to run a poll in its users' News Feeds, asking them their opinion on the TOS change. The poll gives three options: no, I don't know, and yes.
The introduction of this poll by Facebook is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, and most obviously, the mere existence of the poll seems to suggest that Facebook is considering changing its terms of use. At the very least, it looks like it is willing to look at user feedback on the decision, potentially affecting what they do in the future.
Second, this is a great usage case for its newly introduced polling system that Facebook talked about at Davos. The poll features live results, as seen in the screenshot below, but unfortunately, the user cannot access these results again after they have voted.
Facebook's users give a resounding "Yes."
As you can see, the Facebook community is speaking loudly on this issue. The votes are leaning toward "Yes," with a significant portion being uninformed about the issue and answering "I don't know."
The users who think that the TOS should remain the same only account for 6 percent of the total user base. It's great to see that Facebook, at the very least, wants to hear what their users are saying. Hopefully, we will see more creative uses of the polling system in the future.
Harrison Hoffman is a tech enthusiast and co-founder of LiveSide.net, a blog about Windows Live. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
Sorry, no link. I would have if I could get it. It just appeared as an item in my News Feed.
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Harrison
Frankly, my thought is what good is a million connections on fb when all you really care for is a few you personally know and care for.
Check this link out, as it really is frightening. A bit on the conspiracy theory side, but still...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWz3G_gPhU
Have you compared the old and new Facebook TOS's?
It would be helpful for people to know generally what Facebook changed and how it affects their privacy on Facebook.
I will say that there are a lot more than 38% of Facebook users who do not know what the TOS changes are. Not many people have the time or inclination to read TOS agreements much less compare old and new versions. I am guilty of this myself.
Thanks -
K
I decided not to review that aspect of the story here since it has been discussed at length elsewhere. See http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever for all the information that you could possibly want on the subject.
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Harrison
The Blog seems to be down, or my wifi is buggy!
- by Hep Cat February 18, 2009 2:14 AM PST
- Poll, hell. They've got an apology up now.
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