Internet users evolve faster than the internet itself. The massive movement of personal data onto the web has triggered the birth and death of many web services. As the internet continues to evolve, with big players like Twitter and Facebook, one can only imagine what happens when those services have failed to keep up with the crowd. In the wake of so many dead web services lie the stale collection of user-generated content. I kind of wish I could take it all back. Problem is not all of it is available in an easy format and the trouble of downloading that content supersedes the sentimental nature of said content. This might be changing as both new and old services begin to see the importance of owning your own content.

When Google+ soft-launched earlier this year, many users worldwide praised its advent; Facebook finally had a competitor. After years of Facebook burnout, I was ready to ditch the social media behemoth for a fresh new service. I found it was easier said than done. The hangup was abandoning years of data; a visual and textual account of my online interactions with people in my life.

I was reading an interview in November’s issue of .net magazine. The interview was with GimmeBar’s founder, Cameron Koczon. GimmeBar is a very promising service, still in beta, that allows for users to collect snippets of text and imagery around the web. It was important for Koczon and the GimmeBar team to allow users to own their curated content. The users of GimmeBar can at any time batch download all their snippets. I can’t describe what a breath of fresh air this idea is. It’s simple, but the implications are profound.

Facebook's new archive feature

Shortly after reading that article, I stumbled upon Facebook’s Archive. I can’t stress how I literally stumbled upon it. This service was launched without much publicity (can you blame them?). This new capability allows for users to download their entire Facebook history. History includes: “your photos, wall posts, messages, and other information” as described in the Account Settings. Both GimmeBar and Facebook provide an archive that is raw data, not a proprietary file structure.

A download capability reflects that users are sharing more sensitive information on platforms that don’t give them complete control. As the web service market continues to expand and evolve, this ability will hopefully be integrated into every service, providing a security and peace of mind to users.