Certainly what makes Facebook valuable is their huge network which is sustained, I think, through barriers to entry (network effect), and barriers to switching (owning your data).
I wonder what might happen, if it could happen that the EU or US FTC mandates api access into and out of Facebook, perhaps after a decision that 2015 Man will use social networking as a needed public infrastructure, to be provided on a common carrier like basis.
Can the sheer size of Facebook's network trigger monopoly break up? Or the sheer size combined with lack of API access?
Facebook does make it surprisingly easy to get a copy of all your data. There's a single big button on the site which will make a ZIP file containing all your data on Facebook, except for data stored in Apps (outside of FB's control), and comments you've made on other people's posts. It will even tell you your previous IP addresses and I think auth tokens.
I'm thinking more of API access so that external apps can be created to link Facebook to other networks, so that tweets and google plus and tumblr posts and all that stuff can just flow from one network to the next like telephone calls can do now.
I just clicked on "Start my archive", Facebook will email me when they are done zipping it up.
I wonder what might happen, if it could happen that the EU or US FTC mandates api access into and out of Facebook, perhaps after a decision that 2015 Man will use social networking as a needed public infrastructure, to be provided on a common carrier like basis.
Can the sheer size of Facebook's network trigger monopoly break up? Or the sheer size combined with lack of API access?