Facebook remembers your drunk IMs

Last week was a tumultuous time for Facebook as the Web site worked out its terms of use.

A few key sentences were removed Feb. 4, changing how the site promised to handle user-generated content, and last week a backlash followed.

By the rules set early this month, any content you’ve ever uploaded onto the site could be used or sublicensed by Mark Zuckerberg and comapany. Even if you quit the service, Facebook would be allowed to hold onto archived files.

Only the most paranoid and meticulous people actually take the time to read Web site agreements. But when we blindly click “I agree” to log in, we open ourselves to a lot of potential danger – like Facebook’s usurpation of content rights.

I doubt the majority of content on Facebook is really worth anything. Go ahead, take the photos of college kids flashing peace signs, the status updates saying “Let’s get more drunk!” and the notes detailing 25 random facts.

The next great American novel is not going to be handed over for Zuckerberg’s use through wall posts. These terms of use generally protect the site, allowing them to show users their friends’ content without fear of legal action. Without this, one could actually claim they weren’t expecting anyone to see something as simple as their status updates.

Believe it or not, Facebook is a business, and it will always try to protect itself first from legal action. Where the real problem lies is leaving your information footprint even after deleting your account.

In retaliation, I saw many friends removing their photo portfolios, poems and videos in hopes they would be protected from exploitation. By Tuesday afternoon some profiles were suddenly bare and devoid of material, like a family that moved out of its house in the middle of the night.

Be aware that everything you write and upload will stay on Facebook’s servers even after you delete your account. Once that embarrassing photo has been on the site, it will always be a saved file somewhere.

By Wednesday, the site reverted back to its old terms of use. Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, is one of many who stepped forward after petitions started to be drafted in protest. In his words, the site does not own our data and content and never will.

While the threat has died for now, we should take this as one more example of how careful we need to be.

The Internet is the new Wild West, with law and enforcement still being established. Even if your work is protected, its presence on the Internet does not guarantee it won’t be used.

If you ever put any content on the Internet, expect it to stay there. Perhaps it’s not best to start a feud with your roommate through a thread of status updates. Unless our nation embraces drastically liberal policies, aspiring politicians should just skip over uploading that photo album entitled “My new set of bongs and drug paraphernalia.”

Embrace the system, as fighting the Internet is as futile as trying to wade into the ocean and control the tides.