vlaze.com

So, if you're not a regular reader of Wired (online or in print), you may have missed a fascinating article they posted today. It talks about how MySpace/Facebook intrinsically "lock-out" unregistered users from their site, so information you plug into the site is often only viewable by the community itself. Facebook is the biggest offender in this arena (something that's personally been a thorn in my side, and the very reason I've never bothered to register there). We're not here to rip on all the social networks, but to point out a strength in the M+ system.

As Wired says..

"Therein lies the rub. When entering data into Facebook, you're sending it on a one-way trip. Want to show somebody a video or a picture you posted to your profile? Unless they also have an account, they can't see it. Your pictures, videos and everything else is stranded in a walled garden, cut off from the rest of the web.

Like locked cell phones and copy-protected music, Facebook is on the wrong side of the open-network debate. Facebook is a sealed bubble. Facebook users are locked into Facebook, just as iTunes locks music fans to Apple's iPod.

This serves companies' business interests, but not the wider interests of consumers. AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft have their own, proprietary instant-messaging systems. They're all good, but they'd be better if they worked together. The iPhone would be better if it could also be used on Verizon's and Sprint's networks, and Facebook would be better if you could link to friends' pages on MySpace and Bebo. Social networking should be based on open standards, just like e-mail.

Some social networking companies are starting to build open platforms that allow your personal data to be exported and put to use anywhere you like."

Well, we've done just that. When we first opened, in fact. Though sometimes it's been suggested that we should restrict more of the site to only registered users, thereby creating more registrations out of necessity, we've felt that having an open system is important. What good is a social media site that won't let you use that media except in a bubble? Our opinion : not very. Any audio, photos, or videos you upload to our site can be linked to, embedded, and shown on any site that will allow it throughout the web. You can even use our system to host photos for your own private blog on your own private site. No back-linking is necessary.

However, there can be downsides to this "open and free" system. Privacy. Admittedly, we've given very few options thus far for you to protect your content from prying eyes. You can prevent people from finding your content in a site-wide search (regardless of their registered status), you can open it up to be searched by anyone, or you can make it private entirely - thereby only allowing YOUR eyes to see it. Technically, you could still embed the content on your site, to show those you'd choose to show, but a link back to the content on our site for commenting wouldn't work.

It's okay, we're working on that (as well as about 1000 other things, of course) and we're hoping to have some privacy options available to you, and as flexible as we can make it.

Until then, be glad you're part of a social media platform that believes free and open is the way of the future :)

- Rev. Mitcz