Man Who had Birthday During Facebook Outage Wins Thousands of âLikesâ in Lawsuit
Tuesdayâs Facebook outage was tough for its hundreds of millions of users around the globe, but for Detroit resident Peter Ferguson, it took more of a toll â at least according to the judge that awarded him thousands of âLikesâ in a groundbreaking lawsuit.Ferguson, whose birthday was on the day of the outage, sued the social media giant, claiming that theyâd ruined the only day on which his life seemed to matter to the outside world.âI know itâs not all that itâs made out to be,â he told reporters. âI know that most people donât even visit my profile to send their messages, and that some of them donât even remember who I am. But thatâs all I got. At least theyâre getting that little red notification that puts me momentarily at the center of their attention. Thatâs all a guy like me could ask for.âThe court agreed, ordering Facebook to grant at least ten thousand âLikesâ to Fergusonâs next post â whether itâs a warped political opinion, or a video homage to his pet cat, Brock. They further ordered Facebook CEO and owner, Mark Zuckerberg, to personally comment on every status or shared media that the broken man posts over the next month, making up for the ruination of what was meant to be a very special birthday.Legal experts around the world hailed the outcome as a victory for the common man against growing tech corporations.âMore and more, weâre seeing these companies taking advantage of the average citizenâs personal life,â said advocate Jerry Greenfield, talking on Fox News and Friends. âThey think thereâll be no consequences to a move like this, taking away our most poignant means of connection. But now they know what happens when I donât get to show off dinner to those undomesticated Philistines I call my friends.âIn response to the legal debacle, Facebook posted an update to its terms of use, stating that unplanned downtime will now be considered a feature, rather than an inconvenience â adding the thrill of uncertainty to its usually flawless usage. At the time of writing, Facebook executives reported that so far 73% of users have agreed to the new conditions without reading them.Â