Facebook to change its governing policies, lets you comment but not vote

Facebook is proposing updates to its governing documents and it’s asking its users to have their say.

The documents explain how the social network collects and uses data when people use Facebook and explains the terms governing the use of its services.

If you’re a Facebook user (and let’s be honest, the odds of that are pretty good) then you can comment, but not vote, on the changes. According to specialist news site All Facebook, the social network did previously have provision for voting but has done away with it for the current round of changes.

Facebook says that the change was made because the voting system, which was triggered by a specific number of comments, “actually resulted in a system that incentivized the quantity of comments over their quality“.

Every time Facebook posts a significant change to the governing documents, it says, it will provide a seven-day period for review and comment. In addition, it will allow people to ask chief privacy officer Erin Egan about privacy, safety and security.

The social network’s vice president of communications, public policy and marketing Elliot Schrage also outlines some of Facebook’s proposed updates:

• New tools for managing your Facebook Messages – replacing the “Who can send you Facebook messages” setting with new filters for managing incoming messages.
• Changes to how we refer to certain products, like instant personalization.
• Reminders about what’s visible to other people on Facebook. For instance, when you hide things from your timeline, those posts are visible elsewhere, like in news feed, on other people’s timelines, or in search results.
• Tips on managing your timeline. For example, you can use tools on your timeline or activity log to delete your own posts, or you can ask someone else to delete a post in which you’re tagged.