[OpenID] Walled gardens, different countries

[Johannes Ernst]

I like your analogy, but I think it's not
	allied shops ... that ... accept that bank's money
but
	allied shops ... that ... trust that bank's guarantees about a  
customer's capital in the bank


On 2008/07/28, at 0:11, SitG Admin wrote:

> If we look at Facebook (and other social networking sites) as banks,  
> keeping users' social currency safe (and maybe giving them interest  
> on it), we can come up with some interesting analogies.
>
> The passport analogy has already been used a lot, but that seems to  
> apply more to access itself; and the fact is, you *can* access  
> Facebook, whether you have OpenID or not.
>
> A banking analogy (which corporate execs may perceive to be close  
> enough to the reality that it can be treated as *literally* true -  
> who knows how seriously they take this "social currency" stuff?)  
> could have allied shops, places of business that would accept that  
> bank's money - but plenty of other shops *wouldn't*. That's where  
> travel tries to enter the picture again, but let's shift this  
> analogy to countries.
>
> The ever-fluctuating currency market is bigger than any single  
> shop's ability to say "Your money's no good here."; *every* business  
> in an entire country, whether in cahoots with the local government  
> (i.e., discounts for those who follow government-dictated trends,  
> with kickbacks in return - a suitable analogy, no?) or not, they  
> find that they can't do business internationally because their  
> currency has no value outside the authority of the local government!
>
> I think that, if we stress to large sites that their "social  
> capital" is largely worthless, and show them a way to not only begin  
> changing that but attract users while restoring their value in the  
> eyes of others, at least one will follow suit. How many are needed  
> to start the ball rolling?
>
> Of course, there's also the risk that a "shoot the messenger"  
> mentality will keep them from listening to us because they're pissed  
> that anyone dare claim their prized assets aren't really valuable,  
> but if we haven't got anyone in the Community yet with a talent for  
> diplomacy, we've got bigger problems ;)
>
> -Shade