Response Post #4

A digital Bill of Rights? Yeah Right.

You’ve got to be kidding me, a Bill of Rights for the internet? Who has this much time on their hands?! However, after reading through the short, and simple theory – I totally support it. It’s not complicated, touchy or weird – just plain simple statements. Things most internet users assume they have already. Because, really, who reads an entire “term of agreement” anyway? And if you do, do you really understand it if you don’t have the letters ESQ after your name?

While the Bill of Rights – as it relates to social media – was written more than a year ago, with the recent news regarding Facebook‘s privacy terms, it is more relevant than ever before (apparently someone did read the entire term of use agreement, otherwise I wouldn’t be bloggingabout it!). For example, while I’m pretty strict with what I post to my Facebook account, I have posted photos I would not want used without my permission, for instance, my wedding photos. Now, I highly doubt Facebook is interested enough in how I looked on my wedding day to use them for it’s own project, but I am protective of them enough that I would have a very big problem if I found them splashed around with out my consent. Yes, I uploaded them thereby agreeing to abide by Facebook’s terms of use, but that still doesn’t give anyone the right to pilfer or plunder someone else’s stuff. Electronic or not. It’s stealing – plain and simple – I can show off pictures of my family and friends to colleagues – or even photos of my home – but that doesn’t give them the right to break in and take the picture on my mantel because they liked it. That’s why I think the companies who use the Bill of Rights are taking a step forward in social media and digital decency. Much like Jet Blue‘s passenger bill of rights after it’s disastrous airport delay last year, the Bill of Rights that Scoble and others have created is definitely a step in the right direction. It won’t solve all the problems, and won’t be the silver bullet for all things wrong with the internet, but it is a basic and simple human nod to honesty.