I take part in various of the newfangled social network sites because I am curious as to where they may lead us. Since I started, I had a couple quite interesting things happen to me thanks to that acquaintance of acquaintance model. However, one thing has become increasingly clear over the months: The need to remain in control of your social network.
Currently, a lot of the social network sites try to capitalize on the phenomenon, and they make damn sure you do not subvert their networks. None of them provides a way to export your network as FOAF, for instance. Most of them also make sure that they remain the only tie you have to some of your acquaintances, and thus outlaw any information in your profile that could uniquely identify you outside your profile within their system.
It has become a pastime of mine to devise ways to slip those global identifiers into my profiles without drawing the attention of the site operators. What worked for me so far is to hint at applicable Google terms I own.
Only in San Francisco could there be a rally that is aligned with my cause.

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