[iDC] Replacing Facebook

Sun May 23 01:17:36 UTC 2010

Lilly,

Yes - but such an ecosystem has to be created first.

For one thing, one could argue that email is not really an ecosystem 
anymore ... as per some statistics 
(http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/metrics/email-statistics.htm) a 
lot of people pump their mail through one of the 3 large webmail 
providers (Microsoft, Yahoo and Google) which are actively used as ad 
platforms. But more importantly, the impact of "huge providers" which is 
the option of choice for "everyone else", is exactly what Diaspora-style 
projects are trying to mitigate.

This leaves us with two options, both of which cost the user some money: 
a) running your own server which is relatively inconvenient because of a 
lack of easy to use devices for such purposes (of course you can operate 
a server simply by running a "server" program on any PC/Mac, configuring 
your firewall/router and leaving it on 24/7) or b) paying for hosting. 
The second option is possible but today technically challenging and 
still relatively more costly than just getting a $4.99/month PHP hosting 
account from GoDaddy-type providers.

--Andreas

On 5/22/10 5:51 PM, Lilly Irani wrote:
>
>
>     One needs affordable, reliable infrastructure support for a user
>     run "cloud" which is even today quite difficult to come by:
>     - internet connected smart-devices like the iPhone are locked down
>     and generally not powerful enough to run a VM
>     - PCs are seldom designed to be operated as 24/7 connected devices
>     from a power, noise and security point of view
>     - internet providers forbid personal hosting in their usage
>     policies or slow p2p-type traffic when detected
>     - professional hosting that would be capable of running such VMs
>     is too expensive and difficult to use for the average user
>
> Can't diaspora run in an ecosystem the way email does? Some people 
> running their own servers, others paying for hosting and running their 
> own seeds, and then some huge, interoperable providers like gmail and 
> hotmail for everyone else?
>
>
>     On 5/21/10 2:21 PM, Sam Dwyer wrote:
>>     This may prove of interest:
>>
>>     /Why Diaspora Will Fail/
>>     http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/05/21/diaspora-social-network-fail-kickstarter-facebook
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On May 21, 2010, at 6:44 AM, Jon Ippolito wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>     On May 14, 2010, at 8:00 AM, idc-request at mailman.thing.net
>>>     <mailto:idc-request at mailman.thing.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>     From: Andreas Schiffler:
>>>>
>>>>     I wanted to post a quick link that would allow anyone who is
>>>>     fed-up with
>>>>     Facebook's continuing path of commercializing the social graphs
>>>>     of its
>>>>     users to fund the development of an open source distributed
>>>>     replacement:
>>>>     http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr
>>>>
>>>>     Seems like a worthy goal and technically feasible (although I
>>>>     admit that
>>>>     I won't be donating, since I don't have a use for such a service).
>>>     Thanks, Andreas. I contributed, not because I have a use for
>>>     Facebook, but because I have an interest in seeing it die. More
>>>     background at "Your guide to the Facebook revolt of 2010":
>>>
>>>     http://www.nmdnet.org/2010/05/18/your-guide-to-the-facebook-revolt-of-2010/
>>>
>>>     Best,
>>>
>>>     jon
>>>     ______________________________
>>>     Still Water--what networks need to thrive.
>>>     http://still-water.net/
>>>
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>
>
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>
>
> -- 
> Lilly Irani
> University of California, Irvine
> http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lirani/ <http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Elirani/>

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