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An alternative to Twitter has existed since 2008. It's called identi.ca http://identi.ca/ http://identi.ca/ The issue is getting people to start using such a

by e-dard 14y ago

An alternative to Twitter has existed since 2008. It's called identi.ca http://identi.ca/ http://identi.ca/ The issue is getting people to start using such a service.

jv22222 14y ago
If app.net can get the press it has gotten it probably means that the marketplace has reached boiling point. I'm thinking developers and many twitter users are ready for a more reliable and trust-able system.
- ecaron 14y ago
  How does the "marketplace has reached boiling point [with Twitter]", for app.net, differ from the marketplace reaching a boiling point with Facebook -> DIASPORA*, yet the trends speak pretty loudly (http://www.google.com/trends/?q=diaspora http://www.google.com/trends/?q=diaspora) that boiling point & press != success. I'm hopeful to see app.net take off, but have been unable to find any arguments/discussions talking about how app.net will succeed where DIASPORA failed. (Ignoring the obvious of having a better name, of course!)
  - jv22222 14y ago
    Facebook is (mainly) a single web app and the market knows it as such. Real time messaging is a smorgasbord of different clients on different platforms built by different people. The distributed nature of multiple vendors marketing efforts might give it the edge. Coupled with a lot of negative sentiments that Twitter users and developers feel might make it an interesting story in the tech press. Diaspora had a lot of press when they first started but they couldn't live up to the promise. In this case it would be easier to live up to the promise because most of the client code already exists. It would largely be a case of clients adding new endpoints to the frontend and abstracting the rendering functions. It would also be super easy for users to import their Twitter profile into a new system. Just enter a Twitter username and you could easily get the bio & avatar. Very low cost of transfer. If the press pushed it, and it was so easy to move over, it would have a chance IMHO. I should also point out I don't think app.net has this opportunity, I think it could only happen for a truly free non-profit system.
- lucian303 14y ago
  If you include trustable, the system and its parent company/organization could not reside in the US.
emilsedgh 14y ago
People in HackerNews tend to ignore things that have no 'funding', 'VC', 'capital', 'investment', 'startup' or related terminology. In this very same thread people are mentioning that an open, distributed system is needed or that they'Will contribute by code and kind'. And identi.ca is not even mentioned in the article. Disclaimer: Im not trying to be offensive through other posters. They may simply not know about identi.ca. But that proves my point even more. Twitter and app.net have been discussed so much in the past few weeks. Identi.ca barely got any attention.
riffic 14y ago
Identi.ca is not the alternative; it is a site which runs software called StatusNet. This is like saying Wordpress.com is the alternative to Blogger. The alternative is the software which runs the site. Most importantly, this software needs to speak a standardized protocol. Luckily, this protocol exists -- it is called OStatus.

by e-dard 14y ago

An alternative to Twitter has existed since 2008. It's called identi.ca http://identi.ca/ http://identi.ca/ The issue is getting people to start using such a service.

jv22222 14y ago

If app.net can get the press it has gotten it probably means that the marketplace has reached boiling point. I'm thinking developers and many twitter users are ready for a more reliable and trust-able system.

ecaron 14y ago
How does the "marketplace has reached boiling point [with Twitter]", for app.net, differ from the marketplace reaching a boiling point with Facebook -> DIASPORA*, yet the trends speak pretty loudly (http://www.google.com/trends/?q=diaspora http://www.google.com/trends/?q=diaspora) that boiling point & press != success. I'm hopeful to see app.net take off, but have been unable to find any arguments/discussions talking about how app.net will succeed where DIASPORA failed. (Ignoring the obvious of having a better name, of course!)
- jv22222 14y ago
  Facebook is (mainly) a single web app and the market knows it as such. Real time messaging is a smorgasbord of different clients on different platforms built by different people. The distributed nature of multiple vendors marketing efforts might give it the edge. Coupled with a lot of negative sentiments that Twitter users and developers feel might make it an interesting story in the tech press. Diaspora had a lot of press when they first started but they couldn't live up to the promise. In this case it would be easier to live up to the promise because most of the client code already exists. It would largely be a case of clients adding new endpoints to the frontend and abstracting the rendering functions. It would also be super easy for users to import their Twitter profile into a new system. Just enter a Twitter username and you could easily get the bio & avatar. Very low cost of transfer. If the press pushed it, and it was so easy to move over, it would have a chance IMHO. I should also point out I don't think app.net has this opportunity, I think it could only happen for a truly free non-profit system.
lucian303 14y ago
If you include trustable, the system and its parent company/organization could not reside in the US.

emilsedgh 14y ago

People in HackerNews tend to ignore things that have no 'funding', 'VC', 'capital', 'investment', 'startup' or related terminology. In this very same thread people are mentioning that an open, distributed system is needed or that they'Will contribute by code and kind'. And identi.ca is not even mentioned in the article. Disclaimer: Im not trying to be offensive through other posters. They may simply not know about identi.ca. But that proves my point even more. Twitter and app.net have been discussed so much in the past few weeks. Identi.ca barely got any attention.

riffic 14y ago

Identi.ca is not the alternative; it is a site which runs software called StatusNet. This is like saying Wordpress.com is the alternative to Blogger. The alternative is the software which runs the site. Most importantly, this software needs to speak a standardized protocol. Luckily, this protocol exists -- it is called OStatus.