

It's time for social network neutrality - droidHN
http://www.betabeat.com/2011/07/19/its-time-for-social-network-neutrality/

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bdhe
A very interesting article! It neatly articulates why API lock-ins are
analogous to other "traditional" monopolies. This paragraph was particularly
illuminating:

 _Social networks are a critical layer of infrastructure for a wide variety of
applications and content. Unlike physical networks, opportunities for lock-in
emerge not at the physical layer but at the social layer: our connections. In
other words, they do not wield monopoly control by dint of massive up-front
fixed costs but rather by the accumulated value contributed by users in the
form of the social graph!_

However, to play the Devil's advocate, I am not entirely convinced that unlike
electricity, or water, why these services are considered essential,
considering how recently the entire concept of a social graph emerged. I see a
strong case for enforcing neutrality rules for the internet, partly because a
lot of the costs were initially bore by taxpayer money, but the same can't be
said of Facebook and Twitter.

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wmf
I'm ambivalent about this. It's unfair to basically nuke Twitter/Facebook's
business model by turning them into utilities. OTOH, it was unfair of Twitter
to promote themselves like a utility for a few years and then dramatically
change course (even though it was obviously inevitable to some people).

Related:
[http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/05/15/faceboo...](http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/05/15/facebook-
is-a-utility-utilities-get-regulated.html) discussion:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1350689>

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jrlevine
That danah boyd article is excellent. She nicely describes the trade offs
inherent to regulation.

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a3_nm
Pushing for existing closed networks to be somehow regulated seems like a
worse solution than pushing for federated social networks where you can switch
as you like and still communicate with everyone. The best way to avoid abuse
is to have a system with a low cost of entry for new players and a low cost of
switching for users.

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jrlevine
Totally agree with you. I'm not pushing for regulation, I'm arguing for data
portability.

