Tiny turnout undermines Facebook vote

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 24 Apr 2009 at 15:32

Facebook users have voted in favour of new terms and conditions granting them greater control over the content they post on the site.

According to a blog post by Facebook's general counsel Ted Ullyot, 600,000 people took part in the vote, with 75% of them in favour of the changes.

Given the site's supposed 200 million users, the turnout is tiny and Ullyot expressed Facebook's disappointment: "We'd hoped to have a bigger turnout for this inaugural vote, but it is important to keep in mind that this vote was a first for users just like it was a first for Facebook. We are hopeful that there will be greater participation in future votes."

Facebook had initially claimed that a binding result would require 30% of active Facebook users to participate, equivalent to 60 million people. However, in light of the massive shortfall Ullyot has admitted the company had reconsidered the figure and adopted them anyway.

The low turnout will also have a knock-on effect for future votes: "We're going to consider lowering the 30% threshold that the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities establishes for a user vote to be binding," says Ullyot.

The revised document was drafted in collaboration with the site's users, and was intended to defuse criticism that Facebook had granted itself a perpetual right to users' content.