Social Network Portability politics
I’m struck with the behind the scenes approach that Brad Fitzpatrick and David Recordan seem to be taking in discussing ’social network portability’ with some publisher guy who likes to trademark things.
This is exactly why Kaliya Hamlin and I are organizing a DataSharingSummit so that these issues can be discussed - in public - with stakeholders in the room - together.
With all the excellent discussion going on about ‘open social networks’ and whether end-users even care of not - it would seem to me that ANY discussion on social network portability would need to include Facebook, AOL, Yahoo, Google, etc. And Technorati, SixApart, JanRain, Broadband Mechanics, Sxip, Verisign, Plaxo, etc.
I sure hope that some blog posts get created about what really happened - so any confusion caused by Valleywag’s rumor mongering get resolved.
Any discussion on social network portability will be welcomed at the DataSharingSummit and I sure hope that Brad Fitzpatrick and David Recordan come - and do just that.
Then again - Valleywag could just be lying - is certainly happened before.
Or maybe their spy tracking Brad Fitzpatrick is some hottie who has a crush on him and just wants to piss him off. Hard to tell.
Clearly this is a subject many stakeholders are interested in. The argument over whether or not the masses CARE about moving their personal data around - is moot IMHO. Once we have effective standards in place the freedom to move your info from - say a 10 year old MyYahoo account to your up-to-date Facebook social graph - will be awesome!
Since there’s a Facebook app for OpenID and other experiments going on - I say it’s time for Interop testing!
Folks like Scott Kveton, Brian Oberkirch, Julian Bond, Doc Searls, Brian Lawver, Andre Durand, Jeremy Zawodny, Kim Cameron, Dave Winer and others all have a vision of how social networking can be open up. Me too. There are working groups being set up, and in general - I’d say we’re hitting a feeding frenzy level.
So why would a private meeting go on - and not include us? What’s wrong with that picture?
Its no secret that Yahoo, Google and others are all working on this problem. So why can’t Brad Fitzpatrick or David Recordan work on the same problem? Or Tantek Celik, Brian Oberkirch and Citizen Agency?
Coolio I say.
In fact it looks like there’ll be a meeting in Amsterdam during/after PICNIC! I wonder what’s going on with the community in Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai or Sydney.
Now whether Barak Berkowitz will pay for more work on OpenID or not - is another thing. Or Yahoo or Facebook. Google’s got the bucks - but I hope that Brad is talking to Amar Gandhi. It doesn’t look like Technorati will be paying for microformats or OpenID anytime soon. But Verisign’s support (by letting David Recordan do all this OpenID - as his job) has been appreciated and I just wish other companies would ‘contribute’ resources to the standard.
At the end of the day I doubt a single set of standards will evolve - so our company Broadband Mechanics will support them all. Vive la diffrance! And may the end-user - win!
August 10th, 2007 at 8:48 am
The true Web 2.0 Revolution was the rebuilding of the “walled garden” (softer, and with pretty little syndication bricks)…the technology exists but the business owners are still wanting to maintain “their own in their own”. Single-sign-on duchys and realms will still be the balkanized order of the day.
Watching an average Netscape/Digg clone user attempt to participate on Digg will be like AOL users on Usenet. Guaranteed culture clash, at the drop of a hat.
All this is is globalization, at the Web 1.9-2.2 mesoscale; the tribes will balk at any ham-handed introduction of interconnect.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Hi Marc, thanks for the ping! I’ve tried to book the meeting for the 28th, but PICNIC’s schedule didn’t allow it unfortunately. I’ll keep you updated on the exact how, where and when.
August 12th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Marc –
I’m wondering who’s being more open here? Hackers shouldn’t need permission to innovate.
So is it more open to hear about something cool and ask for more information, or to say that no one should be able to do anything without consulting with you and your friends? Sorry, but the internet doesn’t work that way.
I heard Brad and David were working on something cool, and asked for a meeting to learn about it. You could have done the same. (I believe you’ve heard about their work too.) And if they wanted to keep it particularly secret, Philz was not the place for the meeting. Nor would they have invited Chris Messina to join the conversation when he walked by.
Brad and David’s work is not done yet, so they aren’t broadcasting it. A lot of people reserve that privilege. But that doesn’t mean it’s deeply secret.
This meme that no one should keep anything private, or that if they do there’s some kind of conspiracy, is one of the silliest ideas out there, and all it does is reflect poorly on those who keep trying to promulgate it.
August 15th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
[…] O’Reilly left a long, thoughtful comment on my blog saying that I shouldn’t promulgate memes that secrecy is…. “Hmmmm I thought - now why would he stop from his busy schedule to populate my tiny little […]
August 21st, 2007 at 12:50 am
You are write, Watching an average Netscape/Digg clone user attempt to participate on Digg will be like AOL users on Usenet. Guaranteed culture clash, at the drop of a hat.