Facebook:
Voxer, Twitter, Vine, MessageMe. Facebook has repeatedly cut off opponents from its feature for finding your Facebook friends on their apps. After jumpstarting its own social graph by believing people to upload their Gmail contacts. Meanwhile, Facebook’s Download Your Information tool absolutely exports a text list of friends names you cannot use on the other hand. As Congress considers perhaps regulation following Mark Zuckerberg’s testimonies. And it should prioritize leveling the playing field for ambitious alternatives to Facebook and letting consumers select where to the social network. And as a display of good belief and argument against it misuse its monopoly, Facebook should make our friend list indeed portable.
Social Graph:
It’s time to free the social graph to behave it as a primary digital occupation. The pathway the Telecommunications Act of 1996 saving your right to bring your mobile number with you to a new network. The two most powerful pathways to do this would be for Facebook to stop. Or parliament to stop it from, blocking friend finding on opponents like it’s done in the last to Twitter and more.
And Facebook should change its Download Your Information tool to export our friend list in an indeed interoperable format. When you friend anyone on Facebook, they are not just a name. They are someone specific amongst often many with the similar name. And also Facebook should be open to us getting connected with them on the other hand.
As I criticized pathway earlier in 2010 when Download Your Information launched. The data can be used as a diary, or to replace other information from a hard drive stolen computer or crash. But not perforce to switch to several social networks. Given Facebook’s iron clutches on the Find Friends API, users deserve decentralized data portability. A pathway to take their friends with them that Facebook cannot take back. That’s what Download Your whole Information should offer but does not.
Conclusion:
This is why I am calling on Facebook to promote the data portability of your friend cohesions. Give us the similar consumer saving that makes mobile numbers portable. At the very least Facebook should include your friends unique Facebook URL and username. But true portability would mean you could upload the list to other social networks to get your friends there.
