Web users are spending more of their time and creative energies within online social networking systems. While many of these networks allow users to export their personal data or expose themselves to third-party web archiving, some do not. Facebook, one of the most popular social networking websites, is one example of a “walled garden” where users’ activities are trapped. We examine a variety of techniques for extracting users’ activities from Facebook (and by extension, other social networking systems) for the personal archive and for the third-party archiver. Our framework could be applied to any walled garden where personal user data is being locked. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3.5 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Online Information Services—Web-based services; H.3.7 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Digital Libraries—Collection General Terms Design, Experimentation, Management, Human Factors Keywords digital preservation, social networks, personal archi...
Frank McCown, Michael L. Nelson