[cybernomad99]

The owner of a website can set whatever policies they please. But the users can vote with their feet. They can always move to other places with a set of more agreeable rules. Give it a couple of more years, you will see average joe will be able to manage their own websites, and they can host their pictures and writings on their own website, and grant access and set all sorts of privacy levels with their lists of friends of different levels. They will not need to join any social network. And they will have their full control of their "40 acres". Until then, they have to subject themselves to the restrictions of the site owner.

Someone will make a tool to make managing user's own digital asset and content so easy as to disrupt the current social network business model. We already see the trend with all the "cloud computing" thing...

I started a free classifieds website ( http://www.houseofnothing.com ) out of similar frustration, and with similar goal that I will place as little as possible restrictions on the content a user can post. I encourage my users to be tolerant and open-minded, and respect the freedom of expression of others. I even had the thought of placing it under public control. But I am not sure how that will work.