Facebook Nation?

I can’t believe it… The Facebook, evolving according to the will of the People?  But it appears to be true.  Today I joined the Facebook Town Hall to participate in the dialogue they opened today regarding what appears to be a constitution for Facebook.

I took part, and wanted to pluck my comments out of the already pages and pages of comments that are pouring in on this and share them here…

1. Freedom to Share and Connect – People should have the freedom to share whatever information they want, in any medium and any format, and have the right to connect online with anyone – any person, organization or service – as long as they both consent to the connection.

Nice beginning… but this does not address the issue of Facebook censorship and arbitration over what is considered “offensive”  It seems to me that there are many caveats missing… wasn’t there just a recent hubbub over Breast-feeding photos?  Also, there needs to be one thing added… the understanding of the user that in consenting to Facebook service, they are consenting to have thier information shared to third parties at Facebook’s discretion.

2. Ownership and Control of Information – People should own their information. They should have the freedom to share it with anyone they want and take it with them anywhere they want, including removing it from the Facebook Service. People should have the freedom to decide with whom they will share their information, and to set privacy controls to protect those choices. Those controls, however, are not capable of limiting how those who have received information may use it, particularly outside the Facebook Service.

I think it is really important to educate people about privacy controls and I appreciate this being addressed here.  In addition to this, the People should also be allowed to control the amount and substance of their own information that The Facebook shares with third-parties for use outside the Facebook service.  The Facebook service should  allow People who make their living through visual art and words and music, to decide what royalty free rights they grant to The Facebook service to reproduce and use their work.

3. Free Flow of Information -  People should have the freedom to access all of the information made available to them by others. People should also have practical tools that make it easy, quick, and efficient to share and access this information.

Yes, but please define what those “practical tools” are.

4. Fundamental Equality Every Person – whether individual, advertiser, developer, organization, or other entity – should have representation and access to distribution and information within the Facebook Service, regardless of the Person’s primary activity. There should be a single set of principles, rights, and responsibilities that should apply to all People using the Facebook Service.

Whoa! This is an interesting one!  Does that mean that the People have the same kind of access that the advertiser has?  What about those who want to advertise on Facebook… is Facebook advertising free or something?

5. Social Value People should have the freedom to build trust and reputation through their identity and connections, and should not have their presence on the Facebook Service removed for reasons other than those described in Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

Interesting… I don’t really have a comment for this one

6. Open Platforms and Standards - People should have programmatic interfaces for sharing and accessing the information available to them. The specifications for these interfaces should be published and made available and accessible to everyone.

Does this mean that The Facebook is open source?

7. Fundamental Service – People should be able to use Facebook for free to establish a presence, connect with others, and share information with them. Every Person should be able to use the Facebook Service regardless of his or her level of participation or contribution.

“Establish a presence” is an interesting turn of phrase… And what is with the capitalization of People and Person?

8. Common Welfare – The rights and responsibilities of Facebook and the People that use it should be described in a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which should not be inconsistent with these Principles.

Wait a minute… isn’t Facebook a private corporation?  Does the Common Welfare trump the investors stakes?

9. Transparent Process – Facebook should publicly make available information about its purpose, plans, policies, and operations. Facebook should have a town hall process of notice and comment and a system of voting to encourage input and discourse on amendments to these Principles or to the Rights and Responsibilities.

Great! I want a copy of the list of third-parties that The Facebook shares my information with, the public and private third parties… please.

10. One World -  The Facebook Service should transcend geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.

Nice touch!

There is nothing in here about 2-way data sharing though.  That is, where the People are allowed to gain access to all of the data that The Facebook compiles and shares.  This is valuable information… and what makes Facebook so valuable to its shareholders… that the People can use and put towards the Common Welfare to generate Social Value…

I commend Facebook on trying to bring the democratizing principles of Web 2.0 into a set of morals, or values if you prefer, for this vibrant and active community of People… it is quite progressive and a worthy pursuit… but I just don’t understand how they are going to do it.

The Facebook is a corporation after all… whose soul purpose is to exploit the “prosumer.”  What Facebook has laid out here in its Constitution is fine for the Facebook as a community, but it still doesn’t address the role of Facebook the corporation, or government… which, in this case translates into a pseudo-democratic dictatorship…

The only way to truly make The Facebook into the Facebotopia they propose through these principles, without also being a hypocritical in their own business practices, is by allowing the People to buy it out… something that is unlikely to happen, as it would mean that users would have to start paying for their service… I wonder how many people would still use Facebook if they had to pay for it… Perhaps they could do something like Radiohead did with their pay-what-you-can album… highly doubtful though, and probably suicide.

But one thing that is for certain, Facebook is attempting to test adaptive structuration theory in its operations… and the People have “faithfully” adapted the structure that has been placed in their laps.  But to what extent will The Facebook will allow the People to do so?

Another round of policy revisions for The Facebook

I’ve been thinking about Facebook’s privacy policy for a while now… trying to encourage users to maximize their privacy settings, and informing them of their rights when they upload content to the site… In fact, I was writing so much about Facebook back in 2007 that I thought I had said all there was to say about it.  Then, this morning, when I woke up and logged on to check in with all my pals, I noticed one friend’s update said something about Facebook violating our “rights” to privacy.

After a discussion with my husband about the semantic implications and inappropriate nature of using the words “privacy rights” and “Facebook” in the same sentance, a quick google revealed the probable source of the status update.  Apparently, Facebook wants to own your Facebook Data Double even if you decide to commit Facebook suicide.  So even after you disable your profile… even if you go that extra step and send Facebook an email requesting to have your profile deleted… Facebook will not remove the little bits of yourself that you leave behind on people’s walls, in people’s inboxes, or in the massive consumer databases Facebook investors have come to rely on for those great big bonuses and market research.  But, they promise not to fuck with your privacy settings… so I guess that’s something…

The policy shift is causing such a ruckus, Facebook is on the defensive.  But ultimately, they probably aren’t that worried about losing users because come on, let’s face it, Zuckerberg has achieved his goal of making Facebook the Windows for Web 2.0… we are hooked now, whether we like it or not.

The way Facebook is implementing this new poilicy is unfair.  Users who signed up under the original user agreement and are now being informed that it is being replaced with a new user agreement that they don’t get a chance to accept or decline.  One which sees you give up the rights to the “soul” of your Facebook Data Double.  It seems to me that The Facebook can easily quiet the protesters by simply giving them the option to continue on as Facebook users, or not.  Because I am fairly certain most users would simply do what they did the first time they signed up… click “I accept” without even reading the damn fineprint.

Frig, even those who are well-versed in The Facebook’s policies will click “I accept” without blinking an eye, because ultimately, Facebook is such an important part of our lives.

For everyone who is so up in arms about this new policy shift, I ask, what’s the big deal?  So Facebook chooses to clog up it’s servers with outdated information that you didn’t care about posting in the first place.  Sure Facebook will still have a record that you posted “25 things” about yourself on January 30, 2009… but who cares?

If you are worried, like I once was, about Facebook selling your information to market research firms so that they can devise updated tactics of psychological warfare in their advertising schemes… this little shift shouldn’t bother you that much… because it’s all so fluid these days… data from last week is so last year.  If the Facebook data mining practices while you are a user don’t disturb you, then why should you get anxious about how they use your practically useless data after you are gone?

In the end, and in my interpretation, this is not a new privacy issue… As a user of Facebook, you should expect no more privacy in the conversations you have with your friends on their walls and in the other public spaces of Facebook than you would having the same conversations with those friends in a pub, or on the bus… Besides… there are far greater Internet Privacy Concerns on the horizon for Canadians…