# Viral Online Protests Facebook Reverses its TOS After Viral Backlash, Begs Users to Stay By Vincent Salera | Published 2009-02-19 | Pop Culture Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/begvertsing-facebook-begs-you-to-not-delete-your-account References: [adrants](http://www.adrants.com/2009/02/misguided-intent-lawyers-social.php) [Facebook](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-facebook-metaverse)’s change in their Terms of Service (TOS) was so ill-received that they have created a pop-up window begging people not to delete their Facebook account. They are claiming to return to the old TOS soon. The message reads, *“Are you deleting because you are concerned about Facebook’s Terms of Service? This was a mistake that we have now corrected. You own the information you put on Facebook and you control what happens to it. We are sorry for the confusion.”* The Facebook TOS change in question stated that all material posted on Facebook--blog entries, posted notes, [Twitter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/twitter-1) updates, et al--belonged to Facebook. It spurred a viral outlash, with bloggers encouraging their readers to boycott the social networking site. Now how’s that for “social” communication? ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 2.4/10 - Popularity: 12% | Activity: 51% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Pop Culture](https://www.trendhunter.com/popculture) > [Internet](https://www.trendhunter.com/internet) ## Key Themes ### What Makes This Trend Stand Out - **Online Privacy Backlash:** The Facebook TOS change resulted in an online privacy backlash leading to a massive boycott and a call for transparency and control of user data. - **Viral Online Outrage:** The viral outrage on social media platforms have become an effective tool for consumers to hold companies accountable. - **Social Media Customer Activism:** Social media customer activism is a growing trend that businesses must address proactively. ### Sectors Adopting This - **Social Media:** Social media companies must prioritize user privacy and transparency to avoid TOS controversies similar to Facebook's. - **Digital Marketing:** Digital marketers must understand the importance of customer privacy and data protection to avoid backlash from consumers. - **Technology:** The technology industry must continuously invest in new user privacy protection solutions in the era of increasing privacy concerns and data breaches. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Social Media Metaverse Projects](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-facebook-metaverse.md) - [Social Media Backup Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/social-media-backup-platform.md) - [User-First Social Media Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/user-first-social-media.md) - [Creative Online Social Networks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bf-island.md) - [Positive Social Media Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tumblr-campaign.md) - [Anti-Social Media Censorship Petitions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/social-media-censorship.md) - [Digital Opinion Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/sunnypeaceislandcom.md) - [Parental Social App Controls](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/meta-4.md) - [Pro-Community Social Media Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/community-social-media.md)