[uf-discuss] A microformat for relationship availability and preference?

[Frances Berriman]

On 21/12/06, Ciaran McNulty <mail at ciaranmcnulty.com> wrote:
> On 12/20/06, Angus McIntyre <angus at pobox.com> wrote:
> > There are all kinds of inferences that it's dangerous to draw from an
> > incomplete description.
>
> I concur, Microformats allow us to publish information, but the
> absence of them shouldn't be taken as conveying information.
>
> > Which raises the whole question for me with XFN, which is a practical
> > one, rather than a technical one: do we really want the world to know
> > all that stuff about us?
>
> Yes, quite.
>
> Inherent in the Microformats movement is the desire to make
> information easier to publish and aggregate, but people need to
> consider carefully what parts they want to make available about
> themselves and their relationships to others.


Just to briefly step back to another "principle" - using microformats
does not mean you should be publishing things you would not normally.

For example, if you wouldn't normally publish your phone number -
don't start now just because you want to use the tel part of hCard.
Same goes for XFN.  If you don't already say "I'm this person's
wife/colleague.. etc" don't start doing it!  A person probably
shouldn't start publishing information themselves that they were not
originally comfortable with broadcasting.  It's personal choice, and
all optional. ;)

-- 
Frances Berriman
http://fberriman.com