What does it mean to export your social account?
Exporting a social account means more than downloading a folder of files. A useful export should help a person understand what they created, what can be moved, what can be backed up, and what cannot simply be carried away. TouchGrass treats export as part of portability: a way to reduce platform lock-in and make social software safer. But social export is complicated. Posts, profiles, photos, albums, recommendations, friends, circles, replies, privacy settings, and remote interactions do not all move in the same way.
Why we chose this
A person’s social account is not just a username. It can include years of writing, photos, albums, profile details, recommendations, relationship context, audience choices, and habits. If that account becomes impossible to understand or move, the platform gains power by holding the person’s history in place.
TouchGrass wants social software to feel less like a trap and more like a place people can use on purpose. That means export needs to be explained in plain language. People should know the difference between a backup, an export, an import, and full portability.
A backup helps you keep a copy. An export gives you data in a format that can be inspected or used elsewhere. An import brings data into another system. Full portability is larger: it asks whether social context, permissions, relationships, and ongoing interactions can move too.
That is why “export” should not be used as a magic word. A weak export can be technically true and still not very useful. A strong export gives people leverage: they can leave, archive, migrate, or understand their account without begging a platform for access.
How this works on TouchGrass
TouchGrass is built around friends, circles, intentional visibility, profiles, posts, long-form writing, photos and albums, recommendations, and privacy caveats. These are the kinds of things people may reasonably expect to understand or preserve.
The most useful export explanations are concrete. Instead of “you own your data,” say what the person can actually do. Can they download their posts? Their profile? Their photos? Their albums? Their recommendations? Can they preserve visibility settings? Can they move circles? Can another app understand the export? Can remote replies come along? Each answer matters.
Our feature status page shows which protocol and portability features are available now.
Worth knowing
A post written by one person is different from a comment written by another person. A list of friends is different from mutual consent to stay connected. A circle is different from a portable permission system recognized by every app.
Exporting your own content may be useful, but it does not control what recipients have already seen, copied, screenshotted, or shared. In interoperable systems, remote-server behavior also matters.
A pile of files may be helpful, but ownership is also about format, readability, import support, durability, and the ability to leave without losing social context.
An export can support open-web portability while still preserving the distinction between public, friends-only, and circle-based content.
FAQ
Is exporting the same as backing up?
No. A backup is mainly for keeping a copy. An export should be understandable and potentially useful outside the original service. Some exports are also backups, but not every backup is meaningful portability.
Can I export my friends and circles?
Social relationships are harder than individual posts. A list can sometimes be exported, but the relationship itself may require consent, matching accounts, compatible systems, or federation.
Does export mean another app can import everything?
Not automatically. Import depends on formats, compatibility, permissions, and the receiving app. Solid, ActivityPods, federation, and ATProto/Atmosphere may help in different ways, but their current TouchGrass support must be stated precisely.
What makes an export useful?
Readable formats, clear categories, documentation, import paths, and honest limits. A useful export tells people what they have, not just that the platform produced a download.
Does export make private posts safe?
No export can guarantee that. Private sharing is limited by screenshots, copying, recipient behavior, and remote-server behavior. Export should be privacy-aware, not privacy-magic.
Keep reading
Portability
See what you can do
Why we chose this
A person’s social account is not just a username. It can include years of writing, photos, albums, profile details, recommendations, relationship context, audience choices, and habits. If that account becomes impossible to understand or move, the platform gains power by holding the person’s history in place.
TouchGrass wants social software to feel less like a trap and more like a place people can use on purpose. That means export needs to be explained in plain language. People should know the difference between a backup, an export, an import, and full portability.
A backup helps you keep a copy. An export gives you data in a format that can be inspected or used elsewhere. An import brings data into another system. Full portability is larger: it asks whether social context, permissions, relationships, and ongoing interactions can move too.
That is why “export” should not be used as a magic word. A weak export can be technically true and still not very useful. A strong export gives people leverage: they can leave, archive, migrate, or understand their account without begging a platform for access.
How this works on TouchGrass
TouchGrass is built around friends, circles, intentional visibility, profiles, posts, long-form writing, photos and albums, recommendations, and privacy caveats. These are the kinds of things people may reasonably expect to understand or preserve.
The most useful export explanations are concrete. Instead of “you own your data,” say what the person can actually do. Can they download their posts? Their profile? Their photos? Their albums? Their recommendations? Can they preserve visibility settings? Can they move circles? Can another app understand the export? Can remote replies come along? Each answer matters.
Our feature status page shows which protocol and portability features are available now.
Worth knowing
A post written by one person is different from a comment written by another person. A list of friends is different from mutual consent to stay connected. A circle is different from a portable permission system recognized by every app.
Exporting your own content may be useful, but it does not control what recipients have already seen, copied, screenshotted, or shared. In interoperable systems, remote-server behavior also matters.
A pile of files may be helpful, but ownership is also about format, readability, import support, durability, and the ability to leave without losing social context.
An export can support open-web portability while still preserving the distinction between public, friends-only, and circle-based content.
FAQ
Is exporting the same as backing up?
No. A backup is mainly for keeping a copy. An export should be understandable and potentially useful outside the original service. Some exports are also backups, but not every backup is meaningful portability.
Can I export my friends and circles?
Social relationships are harder than individual posts. A list can sometimes be exported, but the relationship itself may require consent, matching accounts, compatible systems, or federation.
Does export mean another app can import everything?
Not automatically. Import depends on formats, compatibility, permissions, and the receiving app. Solid, ActivityPods, federation, and ATProto/Atmosphere may help in different ways, but their current TouchGrass support must be stated precisely.
What makes an export useful?
Readable formats, clear categories, documentation, import paths, and honest limits. A useful export tells people what they have, not just that the platform produced a download.
Does export make private posts safe?
No export can guarantee that. Private sharing is limited by screenshots, copying, recipient behavior, and remote-server behavior. Export should be privacy-aware, not privacy-magic.
Keep reading
Portability
See what you can do