I think that an open protocol for social networking could really take off. Different hosting companies could offer different services for the same underlying pr

I think that an open protocol for social networking could really take off. Different hosting companies could offer different services for the same underlying protocol. Some hosts may offer free hosting with advertisements, while others may offer the service without adds for a monthly rate, etc. Ideally, if people were unhappy with a hosting company, they could migrate their data to a different host. I like the comparison of a protocol like this to a protocol like email. I really believe that social networking should be a protocol and not an exclusive service owned by other companies. Diaspora has some similarities with Tent, but there are a lot of differences between Tent and Diaspora.