15 Ways to Protest About Facebook Content Scraping Scam

So, what’s the problem? Facebook’s already about-faced, yeah? Your content is safe, huh? ‘Cos it’s been all over the blogoswhatnot, featured on webzines and buried down CNN’s running order. It’s Digged to death, done ‘n dusted?

Wrong.

If you saw any Facebook exec interviewed about this, the nuance is more about, “er, we’ll have to educate our users, like somehow…but we’re gonna need another angle.” Like the guy said in Jaws, to catch the big fat fish, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

Don’t be fooled. They didn’t get away with the biggest ever content con this time, but their eyes are still on your pics, vids, muzak and who knows what data, to what purpose. It’s a money thing, see.

So this is what you’ve gotta do…

[sniplet guvSellBox]

15 Ways to Protest About Facebook’s Content Scraping Strategy

…Not just this week, but for the foreseeable future, to ensure not only Facebook, but all online content resources, get the message, loud and clear. And because, I don’t know about you, but really I don’t want to relocate my FB apps, contacts, groups, what-have-you.

1. On your Facebook homepage, in the “What are you doing right now?” dialogue, make a protest statement, else append with “© me”.

2. Change your profile picture with one specifying this content is “© Facebook me”.

3. In the new Terms of Use, there was a new clause about your profile being accurate, or else being crocked. Protest by changing your DOB, say to April Fools’ Day. You should do this anyway, to help safeguard against credit card fraud and for online anonymity. Read this key post about anonymity online, with 21 tips. In my case, I remain 106 years young.

Remember: Give ‘em an inch, they’ll take a mile. First Facebook. Then MySpace, Youtube, Gmail, WordPress, Twitter and on and on and on. They provide the platforms, and should make the ad revenue. The intellectual property, your content, should be yours.

4. Join the group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, and post a protest. It needn’t be long. Joining is the main thing.

5. Join the group “People Against the new Terms of Service (TOS)”, and post a protest. Ditto above.

6. Join the group “FACEBOOK OWNS YOU: Protest the New Changes to the TOS!”, and post a protest. Ditto 4.

7. Join the group “Those against Facebook’s new TOS!” and, guess what, post a protest. Ditto 4.

8. Add a copyright watermark to your images and videos. Then they’re next to useless to an image or video library. You can also upload low resolutions, though FB does ‘low-res’ them anyway, to 72dpi.

9. Delete stuff. You can always reinstate later, once Facebook gets the message. Delete your photos and albums, your profile photo, your Wall content.

10. Change privacy settings to make content viewable only by you and a select few. You should consider that anyway. Again, read this post about anonymity online.

11. Append a copyright disclaimer to your posts.

12. Add a comment to one of the many articles about this issue, say at Mashable or Consumerist, that broke the relevance of Facebook’s new Terms, and Twitter too…”tell tus Twits!”

13. Lodge a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You’re not American? Facebook is.

14. Complain directly to info@facebook.com, abuse@facebook.com & privacy@facebook.com, and write to Facebook Inc, 156 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301-1605.

15. Spread the word. Digg this post! And share it on your Facebook page – just click through the SHARE button, below on the right. OK, well, at least…tell some friends!

Here’s to OUR content. More importantly, in my opinion, here’s to OUR online identities.

Rant over. Tea time

the_guv

You can find the_guv on Facebook, aliased as Olly Connelly. Er, ’till I’m banned!

What have I forgotten? Tons probably. Lemme know below, and I’ll ammend…

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