Terms & Conditions = Don't Read, Scroll Down & Accept

So what are Terms & Conditions? Well, here's a Wikipedia definition for you: Terms of service (commonly abbreviated as ToS or TOS^[1] and also known as Terms of Use, Terms & Conditions) are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Terms of Service can also be referred to as Terms of Use or sometimes merely a Disclaimer, especially regarding the use of websites. (Click here if you feel enthusiastic and want to read more.)

We all know the importance of a legitimate contract, and that if we agree to it then we must abide by it. This is also the case with terms and conditions, although we don't really take it as seriously or as conciously as the traditional and more formal contract.

This then makes me wonder; my younger brother is 15 years old and has a Facebook account, his age means that he does not have the contractual capacity to fulfil a contract (Under 18), making a contract/agreement void? Right? Maybe not, after doing a bit of research; Facebooks Help page clearly inidcates that anyone can sign up to Facebook, from the of 13. If anyone found under the age of 13 creates a Facebook and their profiles get found out, they will be deleted.

So maybe the terms and conditions aren't as limited, in terms of age capacity as are formal contracts. I guess in terms of social media, terms and conditions are simply an agreement to abide by the rules. That doesn't mean that you should not read them (You must watch the video above if you haven't). Keep reading on and I will explain why.

Come on, we are all guilty of signing up to something and not even reading a word of the terms & conditions. I mean, whats the point? It's just a load of text that doesn't really matter and can potentially come back and haunt us in the future...

WHAT??? SERIOUSLY???? NO WAY??? Of course not, unless the information you've shared becomes credible in the future and the material you've shared on sites such as Facebook and Twitter become profitable, then yes. (PLEASE CLICK HERE, PRETTY PLEASE)

We will take Facebook owned photo sharing app Instagram as a prime example. Recently, there was huge controversy over the new terms & conditions that Instagram had published. These terms & conditions had implications of giving Instagram the right to all images uploaded to be commercially used without identification.

For those of you who only use Instagram to take pictures of food, you probably don't care. But some people upload valuable art, pictures with high sentimental value and images they just don't want anyone else to have or see!

Instagram however apologised and reassured the interested public that they were not to use their photos, despite losing a big percentage of their users.

The moral of the story is that; terms & conditions are basically similar to a contract, and if you are not aware of the important tiny details then you are responsible for agreeing to something which you do not actually agree to. (BUT YOU DID!)

So be careful and READ the terms & conditions!