On Saturday, Facebook is sending out its largest blast of emails since it became a company. It will inform one billion users its idea to modify the governance structure of the site and take away the users’ ability to vote on any future changes.
Currently, if changes are proposed and receive more than 7,000 comments then users are allowed to vote and if more than 30% of users vote for or against a change, the decision becomes binding.
However, Facebook now wants to do away with that system and focus on receiving high quality feedback from new features. The change would prevent votes from acting as a trigger through comments that are drummed up through copy and past actions from privacy activists.
Facebook has proposed as a replacement for voting, to keep the seven day period for comments on any new changes. It will offer two different and new ways that users can voice their concerns on the sites governance.
In addition, there will be regular webcasts that are live so users could ask questions. If the new proposal is allowed, the new features substitute the vote.
There is also a reminder included in the email that says if you hide something on your profile it could still appear in a different location if the information is content that is co-owned or owned outright by another user.
