[natrius]

"When you think about it, Facebook is a closed system."

People say this all the time without any justification. As far as I know, all content within Facebook that has no privacy restrictions can be viewed without being a Facebook user. Facebook has an API that can be used to both read and write.

Facebook is stingy with phone numbers and email addresses, which is a significant failing in my opinion. Other than that, I can't imagine a more open social network that allows users to control who can see their content.

[MatthewPhillips]

So what you're saying is that Facebook is open because you are allowed to fetch information that Facebook allows?

[natrius]

You're allowed to fetch data that users allow, with few exceptions.