Krishwords

During Scoble’s early days of facebook evangelism, I voiced my concern about data being locked up inside the walled gardens of facebook (in one of his kyte.tv sessions). At that time, he said he doesn’t care about getting struck inside a walled garden. I wanted to argue with him about the consequences of such a thinking but didn’t do it for some reason. Later, probably due to the influence of people like Marc Canter, he started embracing the notion of open standards. He even signed the Bill of Rights for Social Networks. I wrote about Scoble’s change of heart in a positive direction sometime during Sept. 2007. Today, his facebook account is disabled because he tried to take his own data with him. I am pretty sure he has fully understood why I tried to convince him long back about data portability. I am sure he has understood how dangerous it is to put the data behind a walled garden. Now, I am calling on him to become the champion of data portability in social networks. He has a huge following and he can use his position to create an awareness about the dangers of having your data behind walled gardens and the importance of data portability. If he takes up this call, he can get back at facebook, by forcing them to change their ways because of pressure from the users (remember beacon?) and he will also get a satisfaction that he played a role in creating a civilized world where users are empowered rather than greedy companies. Will you be the champion for openness, Robert?