Jason Kincaid notes that Facebook’s new “download your information” feature has at least one minor weakness: it can only access Wall postings back to mid-2006. The new download tool, which allows you to save copies of your Facebook profile information, Wall posts, photos, videos and other content, launched earlier this month.
Kincaid writes that for most Facebook users the limitation will not matter, as the service only had 10 million members in 2006, far short of its current 500 million. And, it is only Wall content that is affected by the date limitation:
“So why is Facebook cutting off Wall content posted before summer 2006? The feature is relatively ancient by Facebook standards, launching back in September 2004 when the site was still restricted to college students. It comes as little surprise that the Wall has been re-architected multiple times through the years, and it apparently isn’t trivial for the site to access content posted prior to summer 2006.”
The download functionality is the first time users have been able to archive their Facebook data on their local computers. The feature raises the possibility of users being able to re-upload their saved data to other websites or social networks in the future.
> How To Backup Your Social Life (Fast Company)
