We need a system of due process for situations like this.
Or we need more, and better publicized, instances of people getting screwed for relying on privately-owned social media infrastructure.
In some ways this make me think of towns that improve the interaction of cars and pedestrians by reducing, rather than increasing, traffic signs and traffic control signals[0].
When people think their best interests are being provided for they tend to become lax and too trusting. When (in the case of street traffic) pedestrians and drivers realize that the onus is on them to make things right they are more mindful.
People using assorted profit-focused Web tools need more reminders that no one is looking out for them except to the extent it raises the bottom line for someone else.
They need reminders that they are the product, not the customer.
They need reminders that they have near zero claim on anything and have no reasonable expectation of fairness.
As it stands, sites like Twitter, Facebook, et al, have the best of both worlds. People use their sites as if it were forever their own personal property (and so become deeply invested in it) while the actual ownership remains with the site.
Or we need more, and better publicized, instances of people getting screwed for relying on privately-owned social media infrastructure.
In some ways this make me think of towns that improve the interaction of cars and pedestrians by reducing, rather than increasing, traffic signs and traffic control signals[0].
When people think their best interests are being provided for they tend to become lax and too trusting. When (in the case of street traffic) pedestrians and drivers realize that the onus is on them to make things right they are more mindful.
People using assorted profit-focused Web tools need more reminders that no one is looking out for them except to the extent it raises the bottom line for someone else.
They need reminders that they are the product, not the customer.
They need reminders that they have near zero claim on anything and have no reasonable expectation of fairness.
As it stands, sites like Twitter, Facebook, et al, have the best of both worlds. People use their sites as if it were forever their own personal property (and so become deeply invested in it) while the actual ownership remains with the site.
0: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/controlled-chaos...