I spent some time gathering information about several social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Second Life, and YouTube) and their Terms of Service and Privacy Policies. I suppose the biggest surprise was the claim by most of the sites that although the user owns their posted content and materials, the site has the right to provide these materials to others – without notice or paying a fee. This is not the type of ownership that I am familiar with. For instance, I own a bicycle. If I ride my bicycle to the grocery store and park it in their lot, this does not give the grocery store the right to lend my bicycle to whomever they please. Also, if you terminate your service, many of the sites then own your material outright. Further to this, most of the sites also stipulate that the user is responsible for their own losses and may be responsible for the losses of other users! The site is NOT responsible for loss of your material or personal information. It seems to be a case of social media sites having their cake and eating it too (oops, Eating their cake and Having it too!).
So, would I promote the use of these sites to my students? Since I teach adult learners, my answer is “yes, with caution.” I would ensure that they too read the Terms of Service and Privacy policies very carefully! And, did you know, Facebook requires their users to be 13 years of age or older? I think I have to go “unfriend” a niece and nephew.
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