Re: [Social-discuss] Reminder: Social hack night is tonight. 6PM EST.

[Melvin Carvalho]

I was rereading this essay, and I think it has a lot of relevance for
anyone wanting to build a federated social network.

http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/215

...

I express my network in a FOAF file, and that is a start of the
revolution. I blogged on FOAF files earlier, before the major open SNS
angst started. The data in a FOAF file can be read by other
applications. Photo-sharing, travel sites, sites which accept your
input because you are a part of the graph.

The less inviting side of sharing is losing some control. Indeed, at
each layer --- Net, Web, or Graph --- we have ceded some control for
greater benefits.

People running Internet systems had to let their computer be used for
forwarding other people's packets, and connecting new applications
they had no control over. People making web sites sometimes tried to
legally prevent others from linking into the site, as they wanted
complete control of the user experience, and they would not link out
as they did not want people to escape. Until after a few months they
realized how the web works. And the re-use kicked in. And the payoff
started blowing people's minds.

Letting your data connect to other people's data is a bit about
letting go in that sense. It is still not about giving to people data
which they don't have a right to. It is about letting it be connected
to data from peer sites. It is about letting it be joined to data from
other applications.

It is about getting excited about connections, rather than nervous.

...


On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 7:14 PM, Matt Lee <address@hidden> wrote:
> If you're in Boston, reply and we'll see if we can get you in to join us for
> live hacking at our undisclosed location.
>
> For everybody else, join us on IRC, in #social on irc.freenode.net and take
> part :)
>
>
>