We did it.
As I write this, join.app.net just met our 500K goal, with 38 hours left. — Data Export — When you are logged into the App.net alpha, we provide a button which will email you a .zip file of all of your content in a structured format. If you are an alpha tester, go ahead and try it out.
Context & Ripple Effects
App.net has cleared its $500,000 funding target with 38 hours remaining, giving the alpha service its requested backing rather than leaving the launch dependent on an unfinished campaign. Coverage by outlets including The Verge, PC Magazine and the Guardian shows the funding milestone travelled beyond its initial backer community.
The alpha also exposes a structured content export by email, making user data portability part of the service's early product proposition rather than an afterthought.
First-order effects
- App.net can proceed with the funded service plan, while alpha testers gain a downloadable archive of the content they have created on the platform.
Second-order effects
- Developers and prospective users evaluating App.net gain a clearer signal that the service has both launch funding and an explicit mechanism for retrieving user data.
Third-order effects
- If paid social services use exportability as a differentiator, control over account data becomes a product-level basis for competing with platforms that retain it inside their own networks.
The trend: App.net is part of an emerging push to pair alternative social-network funding models with more explicit user control over exported data.