Social media and other online interactions are still young enough that many companies and organisations are still trying to adjust to the various new challenges posed by the medium. An unusual example of this uncertainty has involved US food manufacturer General Mills, best known for their cereal products.

The company, who produce popular brands such as Cheerios, recently updated the 'legal terms' on their website. According to a New York Times report on the changes, the revised language suggested "consumers... give up their right to sue the company if they download coupons, 'join' it in online communities like Facebook, enter a company-sponsored sweepstakes or contest or interact with it in a variety of other ways."

The changes were widely reported and discussed online, leading to General Mills swiftly dealing with the brewing controversy. In an update posted on their website, the company explains that they'll be reverting back to their earlier legal terms, and that there was never any fear of customers surrendering their legal rights. 

The update further states, "we never imagined this reaction. Similar terms are common in all sorts of consumer contracts, and arbitration clauses don’t cause anyone to waive a valid legal claim... At no time was anyone ever precluded from suing us by purchasing one of our products at a store or liking one of our Facebook pages. That was either a mischaracterization – or just very misunderstood.... On behalf of our company and our brands, we would also like to apologize".

For now anyway, consumers are still free to 'like' away.