While playing with Goolge Plus, especially in the Account Settings Section, I noticed the Data liberation part of account settings. With increased curiosity, I started exploring more.
The Data Liberation part of account settings, a.k.a. Google Takeout, allows you to download a copy of your data with Google. The Google Takeout is result of The Data Liberation Front. Quoting from their website,
Users should be able to control the data they store in any of Google’s products. Our team’s goal is to make it easier to move data in and out.
This is a welcome feature. One of the biggest challenges I have with social networking sites is that my thoughts (and data) are at the mercy of the service provider. If the service provider ever winds up, I have no control of the data I accumulated on the social networking site.
Given the kind of potential hindrances that the ability to retain data can create, the Data Liberation Front and its resultant features in Google can take GooglePlus beyond pass-time social networking.
The Data Liberation Front exists for a while, but I think the results of the initiative are more important in the wake of newer initiatives from Google.