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Why would I use this over Twitter ?

• erikb 10y ago
  Not an author or a big fan, but the answer is quite objective so I can give it as well: (1) If you use a decentralized system you can decide who to give control over your data. (2) Using a software with open standards doesn't enforce you to continue using it if you don't like it anymore, since you can transfer your data elsewhere or delete it. (3) Using a software with open standards means you can interact with people who decided to use another software as long as it implements the same standards. E.g. FB is handled by the FB company. You can only choose to enter that system or stay away. You can not choose to host your family photos only at another company and still share them on FB. But in a decentralized system you can use a choice of hosters or host them yourself and still share them with other users. E.g. in most modern contact book and calendar apps you can export your data in open formats and then import them into another tool. Having more contacts doesn't mean anymore you need to stay with the tool you created them in. E.g. your email client, whether it's Gmail, Outlook, or Thunderbird, can talk to the other email clients and hosters, since email is an open standard. In fact for most cases you don't really care what email program the other person uses. The disadvantage of both decentralized and open-standards is that they usually require more effort to use. You need to have more skills yourself and take more responsibility. With Twitter, because they want your data, they will make it as easy as possible for your to give it to them. But in that case you need to rely on trusting the Twitter the company with that data for the rest of your life.
  • mxuribe 10y ago
    Well said!!