Mark Zuckerberg meet John Key

What do the CEO of Facebook and the Prime Minister of New Zealand have in common? They both recently learned firsthand about the growing power of social networks.

Zuckerberg's Facebook recently adopted new terms of service and in the process rankled users and caught the attention of bloggers, web media and internet users everywhere, despite the fact that the new terms were not all that different from those of some other popular networks. The new terms, adopted quietly and without public announcement, appeared to assert ownership of content posted by users of the Facebook service. After news of the change surfaced and spread like wild fire through media outlets, blogs, Twitter and Facebook itself, Zuckerberg posted a letter attempting to explain the changes. That explanation served only as fresh grist for the mill of public opinion being shaped by the technorati, prompting millions of new blog posts, tweets and Facebook status updates. One day later, Facebook announced that it was reverting to its previous terms of service.

In New Zealand, a new law aimed at cracking down on internet piracy received a similarly rude response from the citizens of the internet world. The law, which was slated to go into effect on February 28, would have required ISPs to terminate internet access on the basis of three accusations of infringement. A series of protests organized by the Creative Freedom Foundation called on bloggers, web sites and social media participants to take steps such as replacing their home pages, avatars and photos with blackout screens to call attention to the new law. Sure enough, before the week of protests were over, Prime Minister John Key announced that implementation of the new law had been delayed and that it would likely eventually be suspended entirely.

In both instances, once the pressure of fast growing social media was brought to bear, change happened fast. Neither the founder of the world's most popular social networking site nor the most powerful man in New Zealand could resist the tide of public opinion once these issues caught fire in the disruptive, irreverent and unapologetic online world.

I guess the only question left now is whether Mark Zuckerberg and John Key will become Facebook friends as a result of their new shared experiences.