4 ms·

I want portability and I prefer services that offer some kind of API with which I can manage my data, or at the very least, a usable RSS feed. Google is pretty

I want portability and I prefer services that offer some kind of API with which I can manage my data, or at the very least, a usable RSS feed. Google is pretty great about this. I felt burned when Yahoo closed Launchcast after I'd been using it for years. But again, it feels like one of those things only YC/slashdot readers really care about. For instance, a few weeks ago, the CIO of our company had suggested one of those bookshelf sites to me. So I did a little research and emailed him a couple reviews I had found, pointing out that I would prefer a site with greater data portability. His response (paraphrasing): Yeah, I was looking at those sites you sent me. And then I thought, why I am wasting an hour of my time trying to figure out which book site has the best data portability policy? But you're probably going to spend a lot more time contributing your content to the site. Wouldn't you like to know that all that time and effort wasn't going to be wasted?

Groxx 16y ago
I think it's that only YC/Slashdot readers call it that. How many Facebook users have you encountered who would leave if there were an alternative? The lack of portable data inhibits the adoption of alternatives by raising the cost of leaving. I've heard "I'd leave, but I've got everything on FB" (referring to photos, usually) which they can't get off FB.
- msbarnett 16y ago
  Really? I've never heard "I'd leave, but all my photos are on Facebook". Instead what I hear a lot of is "I'd leave, but all my friends are on Facebook". Data portability solves an easy problem that relatively few people are bothered by; at the end of the day the big problem is that you can take your social graph with you. You can't make your friends all jump to service Y with you.
  - Groxx 16y ago
    I hear the friends side (much) more, certainly, but I know quite a few people who upload their photos to Facebook and then delete them locally. Which is pretty idiotic, but about par for the course with most people and computers. I'd guesstimate I've encountered almost a dozen people doing that, which implies a pretty large amount when multiplied.
    - msbarnett 16y ago
      Interesting. Certainly not a behavior I'd have expected, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Groxx 16y ago

I think it's that only YC/Slashdot readers call it that. How many Facebook users have you encountered who would leave if there were an alternative? The lack of portable data inhibits the adoption of alternatives by raising the cost of leaving. I've heard "I'd leave, but I've got everything on FB" (referring to photos, usually) which they can't get off FB.

msbarnett 16y ago
Really? I've never heard "I'd leave, but all my photos are on Facebook". Instead what I hear a lot of is "I'd leave, but all my friends are on Facebook". Data portability solves an easy problem that relatively few people are bothered by; at the end of the day the big problem is that you can take your social graph with you. You can't make your friends all jump to service Y with you.
- Groxx 16y ago
  I hear the friends side (much) more, certainly, but I know quite a few people who upload their photos to Facebook and then delete them locally. Which is pretty idiotic, but about par for the course with most people and computers. I'd guesstimate I've encountered almost a dozen people doing that, which implies a pretty large amount when multiplied.
  - msbarnett 16y ago
    Interesting. Certainly not a behavior I'd have expected, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.