Twitter Alters Terms of Service: Messages Posted Belong to Author

In a blog post that was featured by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on Thursday, it was announced that alterations had been made to Twitter's terms of service which clarified that messages that are posted belong to the author as opposed to the company. This action was taken after concern that was generated over feedback the company received on its terms of service.

As the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, among others, has expanded to astronomical levels, the concern over ownership of messages posted by users has increased over time. From messages to pictures, videos and an assortment of other features, social networking users have been demanding ownership of their material and Twitter has given their fans what they want.

Stone's blog posts states, Twitter is allowed to 'use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute' your tweets because that's what we do. However, they are your tweets and they belong to you."

According to PCWorld.com, the blog post also clarified that the company is continuing to develop its guidelines and regulations in regards to Twitter's application programming interface, which is more commonly referred to as its API, as well as its details surrounding the displaying of advertising on its site.