Decentralize Twitter!
Over the last few days a number of popular bloggers have complained, loudly , that it’s time to ditch Twitter and move to a decentralized version of the service that won’t go down every time usage spikes. Generally services like Twitter, once they reach a critical mass of users, can’t really be stopped because the network effect kicks in as a massive barrier to entry. But one aspect of Twitter – it’s openness – could also be its Achilles heel. Scott Hanselman mused on how such a system might work yesterday. Dave Winer has also written extensively about this, although he’s more focused on simply backing up Twitter messages so that they are still available when the site goes down.
Twitter Can Be Liberated – Here’s How
There's been an interesting debate in the blogosphere this week about ways to decentralize Twitter. The reason behind it are obviously Twitter's frequent outages and the lingering question whether the system will completely break down once Paris Hilton joins. Or even Perez Hilton, I guess.
P2P Blog » Could Twitter go P2P?
Introducing the XMPP application server: The Twitter example - P
ejabberd is probably the first XMPP application server ever released.
List of servers
“We’ve seen a lot of Twitter clones.” -- Jack Dorsey This is a List of servers running StatusNet . Register an account with any of them and enjoy the power of federation . You can find further lists here: Main server installations
XMPP (Jabber) XMPP Bot - Allows interaction with identi.ca via XMPP and also on status.net networks (if it is installed). Laconica2IRC - Posts your dents to IRC. Based on an RSS to IRC script customized for the Identica microblogging service.
Apps
I’d like to take the maintenance of ostatus.org content out of my own incapable hands, and make it more accessible through this community group.
OStatus | people on different networks following each other
louisgray.com: Twitteronia vs. Status.net: The Battle for Hosted
By Jesse Stay of Stay N' Alive ( Facebook / FriendFeed ) It's no secret that I'm a huge proponent of self-hosted Microblogging. I've written numerous times on LouisGray.com and my own blog about the benefits business can see by "rolling their own" microblog with their own brand, look and feel. Not sold on this idea? Read what I wrote earlier about the implications of ESPN running their own sports network, or even the company I advise for, TodaysMama.com and their recently-launched network for Moms, TodaysMama Connect (which has quite a community going now!). There is something to be said for a brand being able to have full control over the relationships and community they build.
By Jesse Stay of Stay N' Alive ( Identi.ca / FriendFeed ) Identi.ca , the open source and Federated microblogging platform, could very well put Twitter out of business as other businesses begin realizing how they can adopt it. I think the answer could very well be in the "group Twitter" concept that everyone keeps talking about and the fact that Laconi.ca , the code that powers Identi.ca, makes this very easy for anyone to do. I realized this today when Jay Ridgeway was able to show how to set up a simple Federated instance of Laconi.ca in just 7 steps. The idea behind "Federation" is that I can sign up for Identi.ca, or any other Laconi.ca-based platform and be able to follow anyone on any of the other Laconi.ca-based platforms all on my prefered service of choice.
Identi.ca and the Power of Microbranded Communities
SMOB
projets dans le coma