Facebook is making it easier to export text posts

Facebook is rolling out a new feature today, allowing users across the globe to have the option to archive their posts and notes created on the social media site and transfer a copy of that data onto Google Docs, WordPress, or Blogger. It’s expanding on a similar tool the company released last year that allows you to transfer photos from its platform onto Google Photos. In both cases, the tool allows users leaving Facebook to preserve a version of the content associated with their account.

Users can access the tool by opening Facebook settings and clicking on “Your Facebook Information,” then selecting “Transfer a Copy of Your Information.” There, you can select which destination to transfer the data to (Google Docs, WordPress, or Blogger), log in to the account you select, and confirm the transfer.

The new feature is part of the Data Transfer Project, a cross-company data-sharing initiative that launched in 2018 with the goal of allowing you to move data across various online services and platforms seamlessly. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter are also involved in the project, offering similar data-export tools.

The feature is convenient for users who want to share specific posts or notes they created through Facebook. Still, it is important to note that data ported will not archive comments from other users since those comments are seen as belonging to a separate account.

The new data export tools help bring Facebook in line with two recent tech regulation laws — California’s Consumer Privacy Act and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. Both laws require that companies provide personal information in a readily usable format upon request, although the specifics of the format and interoperability measures are left unspecified.

:story: The Verge