You Can Check Out Any Time, But You Can Never Leave

On February 23, 2008, I wrote this article about deleting Facebook accounts.

In the article I made reference to a New York Times article, and a comment made about the website being like the Hotel California.

During my early morning walk today, I had trouble getting the Eagles song from 1977, ‘The Hotel California’, out of my mind.

The lyrics that stood out especially were:
‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’.

When I arrived home, I played the song, and included it so that you could listen while you read…

Unfortunately though, due to a copyright dispute between the Warner Music Group and YouTube, I have decided to delete the video.

The quote in the NY Times article, ‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’ is probably a bit unfair, as, unlike the unfortunates in the song, when joining any social networking site, what you are getting into is clearly stated in the Terms of Service!

I know that reading these can be as dry as chips, and a real pain in the posterior, but the fact is that they are there to be read, and when you join the site, ticking the box indicates that you agree with them.

By agreeing with the Terms, your are in fact ‘electronically ‘signing’ a document, according to the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act or “UETA” released by NCCUSL in 1999, or the The U.S. ESign Act of 2000.

For a full explanation of these terms, check here!

(You may need to take a packed lunch and your favorite beverage with you – you could be there a while if you follow ALL the links!)

The conclusion that I have come to is simply this: sign anything, online, offline, anywhere, without reading the fine print, and you become a prisoner of your own device!

That device being your signature!

About The Song: Hotel California was recorded by The Eagles and released February 22, 1977.

Written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder, the song was produced by Bill Szymczyk and released on the Asylum label.

The song topped the Billboard Top 100 for a week in March of that year, and won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1978!

It is rated by many as one of the greatest songs of all times…more…

Read We Are All Prisoners Here Of Our Own Device