I’ve recently received several invitations to sign up for Facebook and people are having a hard time understanding why I will not use it. Most people do not take the time to read the privacy notice and/or the terms that are listed on the websites they sign up for. So read the following and you’ll probably get it.

Facebook Terms of Use:
(excerpt) “Proprietary Rights in Site Content; Limited License

All content on the Site and available through the Service, including designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement (the “Site Content”), are the proprietary property of the Company, its users or its licensors with all rights reserved….”

What does this mean? Well, they tell us in another paragraph:
(excerpt) “When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Facebook does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content…”

Yeah….no. A bit too free with the use of things posted on their site. And for those wondering, no…MySpace does not do the same:

6. Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.

6.1 MySpace does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, “Content”) that you post on or through the MySpace Services. After posting your Content to the MySpace Services, you continue to retain any such rights that you may have in your Content, subject to the limited license herein. By displaying or publishing (”posting”) any Content on or through the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace a limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on or through the MySpace Services, including without limitation distributing part or all of the MySpace Website in any media formats and through any media channels, except Content marked “private” will not be distributed outside the MySpace Website. This limited license does not grant MySpace the right to sell or otherwise distribute your Content outside of the MySpace Services. After you remove your Content from the MySpace Website we will cease distribution as soon as practicable, and at such time when distribution ceases, the license will terminate. If after we have distributed your Content outside the MySpace Website you change the Content’s privacy setting to “private,” we will cease distribution of such “private” Content outside the MySpace Website as soon as practicable after you make the change.

Just FYI.

Yeah, I know. I don’t even want to talk about it in a public post. This particular post is just to let y’all know about some changes happening with the blog.

01) Yes, I did stop blogging for awhile. I had every intention to stop completely yet here I am. Guess that’s just the way it works.

02) This is putting all of you on notice that I have changed dramatically. I am now an angry, bitter and resentful lass which is bound to come through in my posts.

03) If you don’t want to read about things that piss me off, go away. I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass because I will no longer take the ‘high road’ that all of you assholes talk about like you have no other option. I am human, I get angry when someone treats me like shit and gee golly, sometimes I need to vent.

04) I pay for this little parking spot on the ‘Net. I will use it however I like. Go pray for me, light a candle for me or whatever you feel you need to do but I am no longer entertaining the idea that I have to be happy go lucky just because you think I should be.

05) I reserve the right to tell you to fuck off whenever I want to. Commenting will no longer be allowed because I am likely to hurt the feelings of my friends at one time or another and I don’t want to do that. You are advised to take what you read at face value and assume nothing. No reading between the lines.

06) And please, don’t try to have a conversation with me in person or over the phone about anything posted here. Do not email me about it and do not text me about it. Do not come up to me because you think I need a hug and you are the one to make everything go away and miraculously heal my wounds. You’re not. An honest hug is fine. An ‘I-have-to-hug-you-because-I-feel-so-sorry-for-you-and-need-to-let-you-know -what-a-wonderful-person-I-am-to-be-thinking-of-you’ hug is not. You can take that one and choke on it.

Okay. Are we all caught up? Good. Moving forward.