. . . about DiSo.
Good video interview (about 20 minutes), if you can get past the conceit (in the rhetorical sense of the word, not the egoism sense) of the self-interview.
The Existential DiSo Interview from Chris Messina on Vimeo
Only part I really struggled with was about 16 minutes in when he starts to talk about the “Gestapo like tactics” of Facebook. I’m a huge supporter of what DiSo is trying to do, but I don’t think closing people’s accounts for terms of service violations passes into the realm of the Gestapo (Remember Godwin’s law?).
Mentions at one point the goal of having a working demo by SXSW – I look forward to seeing it!
Well, if you check out this thread, you’ll see that Facebook was actually shutting down accounts without confirmed violations of the TOS… and without justification:
http://getsatisfaction.com/facebook/topics/13_reasons_your_facebook_account_will_be_disabled
Anyone, it was certainly an off-hand remark and probably not all that helpful. Point taken. I actually like Facebook, but the tactics they’re taking with even minor infractions does leave one to wonder — “if I got kicked out of Facebook [and I used it a lot] where would I go?”
Believe me, I’m no fan of automated account deletions with no clear explanation or justification – just wouldn’t use that metaphor for it.
Facebook is yet another example of pseudo-public space which looks like public space but is really deeply privatized and corporate – like malls, which act like the old public market but are entirely private with their own security force, etc.
Because it is private they can kick you out, but because it looks like public space we expect them to act transparently and in the interest of that public.
Looking forward to making this blog a node in a distributed social network . . .