The Facebook TOS Vote Is Over: You Didn’t Vote, Did You?
I’m not the least surprised to see Facebook coming short of the 60 million votes needed in the Terms of Service pseudo-democracy stunt. Because they did, and both AllFacebook and Inside Facebook confirms it. So how many people did in fact vote?
650,000 according to said two sites. They needed 60 million.
I would’ve expected a bigger turnout, but obviously the average Facebook users isn’t too inclined to read the proposed Terms of Service. Which I can sympathize with, those are dull documents and most users just accepts and moves on. But seriously, 650,000 and you needed 60 million? That’s almost embarrassing.
I think Facebook thinks so too, but on the flipside, they did the open thing here, and no more whining when they change the TOS to earn your soul again. Because you obviously didn’t vote.
Thord Daniel Hedengren is a designer, writer, and blogger, and also the former editor of The Blog Herald. He used to be a hotshot in the gaming industry in Sweden, but sold everything and went International. Most recently he wrote a book called Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, and does loads of kickass design.
I voted. Not that it seems to have mattered…
People reserve their voting for genuine elections, not marketing exercises.
It shouldn’t be up to a mass of consumers to vote to have a company act respectful towards its customers… the company should do it because it’s the right thing to do.
The main people didn’t vote isn’t necessarily because they are fickle and apathetic creatures (even though they are).
The main reason is that Facebook lost much of their credibility with meaningful mainstream content creators no matter what they say from here on out. Every content creator I know assumes Facebook’s long term strategy is to own and control everything posted however they (or whoever buys them out) sees fit. Many are acting accordingly and the genuinely original and compelling content uploading is at a trickle and will remain so for a long time to come.
I didn’t vote. I didn’t see the point, considering the TOS would likely be changed in another six months anyway.