The layer above social networks
Yesterday, Mike Arrington and a few other folks published a brief yet promising "bill of rigtht" for open social networks. Although less spectacular than the launch of the new iPod at Moscone's, everyone involved with digital identities will recognize the importance of such first step. In fact, this may well be the beginning of new and interesting development: the emergence of a new identity layer that will enable an open mesh of social networks.
Consumers should love it. It is all about control, empowerment, consolidation, and convenience. By taking a user-centric approach where the user can consolidate and own his identity profile, social graph and activity stream, the social Web tables are turned upside down. The user now is completely in charge. Consumers regain ownership of their "content". They decide what is being shared, when and where. Privacy advocates will love it.
What I like about the idea is that it is practical. As Brad Fitzpatrick explains, there are enough APIs (FaceBook, LinkedIn...) out there to bootstrap the effort whether or not the big social network guys want to play or not.
Relying party sites could potentially become the big beneficiaries of the new identity layer and the open social Web that it enables. There is a clear business value to take advantage of this new movement because it can improve the interactivity and user experience of any network application or service. It will drive more interactions to the relying party sites and more interactions mean more business.
The idea of sharing names and passwords across the Internet is as exciting as curling tournaments. This on the other hand, carries a lot of promise. If the technical community and service providers can provide consumers with the tools to start regaining control of their distributed self, it may just work.
Where will the new identity service reside? Anywhere that's secure, reliable, and always-on: my cable set-top box? my home networked PC? Or, with a trusted service provider in the cloud? Only one thing is clear: Consumers will be the ultimate winners. Yes, social network portability is a very disruptive and exciting idea. Hang on to your seat, the revolution is being blogged.
