In 2009 and 2012, Facebook polled its entire user base on revisions to its Terms of Use.
- 2009: Facebook revised its Terms of Service to include a provision that any content posted by users could be freely used by Facebook even after the users left the site. In response to the outcry, Facebook polled all users and approved the revised Terms of Service. The vote required the participation of 30 percent of users (approximately 66 million users), and anything less than that was considered a recommendation. As a result, there were only 660,000 valid votes (0.3 percent), the majority of which supported the new Terms of Use, and Facebook adopted the new Terms of Use.
- 2012: A second vote was held, but only 340,000 valid votes (0.04 percent) were cast and only 15 percent supported the new Terms of Use. However, since the turnout did not exceed 30 percent, the result was non-binding and Facebook adopted the new Terms of Use.
Participants’ ignorance and indifferent hinder [direct democracy
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