Social media saves lives…literally…and I am not going to speak of the Facebook TOS debacle
Will…not…speak…of…Facebook. Forget it, I’ve got to say something.
If you just came out of your cave, you’ve missed the whole Facebook Terms of Service update and revert debacle. Here’s the timeline to get you up to speed:
- Consumerist notes the change to the Facebook TOS. Here’s the Mashable version, it’s a little shorter.
- Everybody freaks and I mean freaks out.
- Facebook responds saying, it’s still yours, don’t freak.
- Some interesting debate breaks out.
- Good article from Techcrunch on the complications.
- Nice article from Chris Brogan, one of my favorites, that brings up some good points.
- Uproar continues.
- Ironically enough, someone starts a Facebook group protesting the new TOS. Now sitting at more than 100,0oo members.
- Facebook reverts back to old TOS and starts a Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities group.
Whew. That was quick. So here’s my two cents.
Common sense still rules. If you put it on the web, you’ve lost control already if control is really what you want. I can somehow copy just about any video, graphic or audio file you can come up with. And I”m not really that good.
I do host my web content on server space that I purchase but I do that so I can ensure a proper back up is done. I have no illusions about being able to keep others from taking my content. Neither should you. If it’s really that valuable to you, you probably aren’t going to be able to put it on the web.
I’m glad I wasn’t going to speak of Facebook. 
Now, my real point of news for the day.
This is a great post from ReadWriteWeb about how the United States Department of Health and Human Services engaged in a heavy social media push to inform citizens about the health risks and product recalls. It’s a great example of what I tell people every day.
The web is now an assortment of communications channels. Blogs, wikis, forums and services like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Massage your message as necessary to fit the specific channel but use as many channels as appropriate to engage your audience.
They all have slightly different value propositions and, here’s the thing, we now have more choices than ever on how we consume information. Hit them in as many ways as you can.
Finally, how about this. Surgeons using twitter during an operation. You gotta read it to believe it. That image above is from the story on CNN of the doctor using twitter during the operation. Can anyone see the screen?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is how the web is going to keep expanding into your lives. Don’t worry. It’s going to be ok. Well, until Skynet becomes self aware anyway. How do you think the web is going to change us?