Letters to the Editor
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Data Portability is Important
Netflix is somewhat of a trivial example, but I agree with the underlying guiding principle that allowing users to import and, more importantly, export data is important.
If the value proposition of your product depends on user-generated content - I'm talking about the content itself, not the ability to generate it or what you can do with it - then you don't really have much of a value proposition. You're just stealing your user-base's creative output.
Products that provide true value outside of user-generated content don't need to lock user-generated data into their silo. Because the value of the product comes from what you can do with that data and how it adds value to system-generated data or functionality.
Most product managers simply don't really think this through. They have a gut-reaction of "hey, that's OUR data" and leave it at that.
Really visionary product managers will understand that it's the unique functionalty of your web-based product that actually adds value, not the content that users generate.