Hello Facebook, I Would Like My Data Back …

So we are all quite aware by now of the Scoble vs Facebook incident today.  I don’t really want to weigh in on that so much, it’s a beaten horse by now.  But it did get me to thinking quite a bit about the data portability issue, or lack thereof.

I like to think of our time on these social networking sites, like Facebook, as an investment.  We are investing our time whether we realize it or not.  And for that investment, we usually expect, or at least hope for, a return.  We spend countless hours, or minutes in some cases, friending others, joining groups, adding to discussions, and so on.  Why are we doing it?  For some it may be just for fun, but for others there is most likely an underlying reason.  We are networking, building relationships to use for some reason or another.

So here is what I think a lot of us are missing.  Whether you like him or not, agree with him or not, he is an example for us all.  He invested a lot of his efforts into building his network.  What did he get for it ?  When the corporate sponsor of that network has authority to take it all away at the drop of a hat, he got nothing.  He actually lost his investment.  It is not like we are investing in stocks.  If that were the case, if we had to walk away with nothing, we would understand it, we took the risk.  Building a social network should not be considered “taking a risk”.  Many of us are trying to use these social networks as tools to build and grow a business and the Rolodex has been yanked right out from underneath us.  So I guess that why data portability will become such a hot topic here in the very near future.

I work hard for my $$ and each week it goes in the bank, at least momentarily before the girls get to it, and at anytime I can go and take it to another bank …. seems like I should be able to do that with my network as well.