http://socialtimes.disqus.com/enTue, 20 May 2008 05:12:34 -0000http://www.socialtimes.com/2008/05/social-network-sites-are-the-emperors-new-clothes/#comment-1574710neil. won't the basis of value change over time as "social networks" change? <br><br>won't data portability enable growth opportunities (by lessening user friction) for new communities focused on specific interests, while creating pressure to maintain scale for large sites such as FB? creation. destruction. creation. <br><br>this debate reminds me of the first social network - AOL. as AOL gained traction there was a significant conversation around prospects for their "walled garden" versus the world wide web. we know who won that argument.<br><br>at the time, the issue of data portability came to the fore front with the IM. would AOl allow other IM's (Yahoo for example or MSN Messenger) to interconnect? eventually consumers required it and AOL yielded....<br><br>if the large social networks don;t give users what they want, someone else will........MJMTue, 20 May 2008 05:12:34 -0000http://www.socialtimes.com/2008/05/social-network-sites-are-the-emperors-new-clothes/#comment-1574709Great write up. I watched the video from <a href="http://dataportability.org" rel="nofollow">dataportability.org</a>, got the concept but don't completely understand how it works. Interesting that when I googled data portability, <a href="http://dataportability.org" rel="nofollow">dataportability.org</a> is the first one on teh list. You're right in that we will start to see more start-ups focusing on data portability.kadyMon, 19 May 2008 11:06:52 -0000