mathewi
I'm not sure you're right, What's Next.
I don't think Facebook's valuation is based on the fact that it has
somehow trapped its users and all of their data inside its
walled-garden network -- otherwise known as the "roach motel" business
model. And if that is what it's valuation is based on, then much of it
will vanish.
I'd like to think that social networks rise or fall based on what they
can help you do, or how easy they make it to create a network of
friends, rather than how efficiently they lock you in -- although I
know there are some big companies who disagree on that.
drBaher
Although Data is very important to any social network, what you do with the data is the real essence of any service, and depending on users’ data for value is not a good business decision, as sooner or later users will move on to better social networks.
Plus, I don’t think social networks will open all of their data, just share some of it and allow its users to export them using certain yet-to-be-know standards.