Sir Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, believes his brainchild is threatened by social networks that don't let members extract the information they put into them. Such protectionist
measures -- of which Facebook is notoriously guilty -- will result in the web being "broken into fragmented islands," Berners-Lee writes in a Scientific American journal essay.
As the
Guardian notes, "The world's most popular social network has been roundly criticised for leaving users' network of
contacts 'walled' inside its own site." According to Berners-Lee: "The web evolved into a powerful, ubiquitous tool because it was built on egalitarian principles." Regarding closed networks, he adds:
"The more this kind of architecture gains widespread use, the more the web becomes fragmented, and the less we enjoy a single, universal information space." We imagine Google, which has recently
called out Facebook for hording user information, plans to send Berners-Lee something nice for the holidays.
Read the whole story at The Guardian (UK) »
I'm not sure I understand the objection to "walled" networks. Does that mean my daughter's personal info on facebook should be "open" for all to find and see? I wouldn't want the creepers to have that access. Does that mean that "walled" banking information should be open to all? What's wrong with Facebook and other social networks restricting access to user data? I don't want my private data to be on any "single, universal information space."