Both Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang are making this claim. I agree that Facebook doesn’t let data out, but is that a bad thing? Is having one place for all of your data a bad thing?

I like the fact that I can connect to my network, add my blog feed, and add other services if they have built a Facebook application. One central place for everything.

This isn’t the optimal solution. I would rather have a more open architecture where I can connect all my social data and connect to my network in a way that allows my network to not necessarily be part of Facebook. We all have different needs from our social network. It would be nice to be able to use the network of my choice but still connect to friends that are one another network.

Today Facebook is the best we have. It only takes one development effort that is well thought out to push the community into the next generation of social networking, possibly open social networks.

Social networking is a young industry. I think calling Facebook a data black hole is not very helpful. Let’s explore some constructive ideas form improvement along with pointing out the flaws.

Tags: |