Should anyone ask, I hate social networking sites but everyone seems to be using them

I really don’t like the silos of information that the various social network operaters hold in their grip.  And I hate having to repeat my information and maintain “friends” on Xing, Linked-In, Facebook, AdultF^W (just kidding). There has to be money or at least ease for end users in aggregating these sites through a common protocol (I’ll propose the RFC number 37337 to cover this).Actually there’s been some progress on this. Livejournal now has their FOAF (friend of a friend) protocol to describe relationships and it’s now possible to integrate OpenID into most sites saving the YADPTR (yet another damned password to remember) problem.

So it’s with dismay that I read Apple’s about to start feeding the Silos.  The FT’s “Apple to sell music through UK Bebo network” is perhaps the best summary. Basically using these sites as a way to sell music.  Did the world forget the beauty of a hyperlink.  It can take the user to a dedicated online store. What next – Amazon selling books on the Chelmsford County Council Library site?If you can’t beat them, join them? Well perhaps…

My real peave with social networks is how they become an email substitute.  I have email for that.  It reaches me on my phone, I can archive it (my email spool reaches back to 1996),  and I can use a  huge range of readers to read it offline. So if you need to contact me, contact me outside of a social network.  My contacts page is up to date.