I'm surprised Diaspora isn't on this list. At the time, they were poised to step into the fray when FB was fumbling with users privacy. Their unabashed attitud

I'm surprised Diaspora isn't on this list. At the time, they were poised to step into the fray when FB was fumbling with users privacy. Their unabashed attitude of collecting and selling users data was just starting to leak out into the media and users were not happy. Diaspora had the opportunity to seize on user dissatisfaction and take a huge chunk of their user base. They couldn't get their app to market soon enough and the window closed on them. A co-founder suicide and an ultra quiet release followed and put the final nails in their coffin. Interestingly enough, I've gone back to Diaspora and I'm currently in the process of hosting my own pod. I was also an early adopter of Ello and after a few years of a dormant account, have started using it again. I now enjoy using both and have found stable, engaging communities with both.