Last week, I delivered an overview on the social media universe to a client entitled Social Media University. During the conversation about social networking, one of the executives asked me for my opinion of whether or not they ought to consider starting their own channel or network on one of the Big Two (MySpace and Facebook) or create their own.


After careful consideration, I replied that that they should join up with one of the existing (my preference was for Facebook). My reasoning was mainly that people don't want to sign up for more than one or two networks at most.
I still believe this to be true. Right now, I believe that the lack of portability for your online identity is preventing an even bigger explosion of growth for social networks. While these enclaves of community have matured far beyond being the sole realm of teenagers and college kids, they are nowhere near the mainstream (yet). Part of why that's true is just a matter of time. My experience has shown that it's just too darn time-consuming to have to re-create your entire profile over and over again.
That's why I was encouraged to see the Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web authored by Joseph Smarr, Marc Canter, Robert Scoble, and Michael Arrington. I know Marc Canter has especially been working over the past few years toward the goal of portable identity, and have long applauded his efforts. He's an absolute mensch for leading the way forward.
While I believe that the issue is more practical than political, I'm glad to see efforts like these flourish. I am publicly expressing my support for this effort and will do whatever possible to see it come to fruition.
If you haven't read the Bill of Rights for the Users of the Social Web, definitely take a moment and do so. If you use any social network, or are thinking of deploying a strategy that involves one, you need to read this.
Let's get a conversation started. What do you think?