Submitted by Tobias Eigen on 25 November, 2010 - 14:27
Yesterday I signed up for an account at SocialOomph, a service that extends the power of Twitter and other social networking services. I am still learning about SocialOomph and am intrigued by it, but today I received an even more intriguing message from them (see below) that describes StatusNet and why we should all support it.
I see this message as a wake-up call that there is another path possible for social media/social networking, and share the values that SocialOomph and StatusNet are promoting to defend the open web using open source software, creative commons licensing of content and empowering communities in a decentralized approach rather than trying to get everyone to join one megasite like Facebook. Put another way: activists and development practitioners in Africa do not all have to use Facebook and Twitter for everything we do, and we should keep our options open as those megasites (and Google and other similar providers) grow and develop their services that may or may not be in our best interest.
StatusNet is very explicitly being developed as an open source, decentralized alternative to Twitter. Identi.ca is probably the best known StatusNet microblogging network where you might want to create an account to reserve the name for yourself and get your feet wet in using StatusNet. Won't take long and the features are quite promising. I am sad that I can't use my favorite Twitter client @nambu with identi.ca but presumably some of the other leading microblogging clients support StatusNet.
For those interested in exploring running your own StatusNet, you have options. Like WordPress, StatusNet is being offered to users, companies and communities as a hosted service in the cloud but also as open source software that you can download and install on your own server.
On the StatusNet List of Servers, the only site in Africa so far is Naijapulse. I have no idea how useful or relevant Naijapulse is but on first glance at the public stream it looks like a spam magnet. Naijapulse and identi.ca look very similar, so it appears the platform can be downloaded and installed with preset settings much like Ushahidi.
I am wondering about Kabissa and StatusNet, and if this might not be another "low hanging fruit" opportunity for us to offer a value added service to our members. It would be nice to see if StatusNet can be integrated in any way with our existing platform so that Kabissa members don't have to create yet another login. Perhaps StatusNet can also be integrated with Kabissa Groups so that members can participate in groups via StatusNet posts (via SMS or StatusNet client) as well as by email or the blog.
Support For The StatusNet Microblogging Platform - Why Should You Care?
We have a solution for you.
In SocialOomph we have full support for the federated microblogging platform, called StatusNet.
StatusNet is an inter-connected network of microblogging sites, which all use the same open source software to run a Twitter-like microblogging service.
You can join any of the sites in the network and follow the updates of any user on any of the other sites, right there in your one account on one site.
StatusNet sites tend to be niche-oriented, which means people with common interests tend to flock to one particular site.
Since StatusNet is a distributed solution, overall performance is far better. If one site is having a technical problem, it does not affect the other sites in the network at all.
These sites are owned and run by completely different people. The only thing they have in common is that they use the free StatusNet software to drive their sites.
With our StatusNet integration you can schedule recurring tweets, send broadcast DMs to all your followers, synchronize your friends and followers lists, and perform other actions without fear. You define how you want to use their system.
You've probably already caught on to the fact that you can run your own microblogging site if you want to. Soon you will be able to get a hosted solution from StatusNet, using your own domain name, so that you don't even have to worry about servers and software installation. Check out their site at http://status.net and reserve the name you want right now, while the hosted solution is in private beta phase.
Here is a random sampling of the sites already out there:
- Identi.ca http://identi.ca - This is the original StatusNet site and is still the largest.
- The TWiT Army http://army.twit.tv - Run by Leo Laporte, the well-known American technology broadcaster and author.
- Mozillaca http://mozillaca.com - A Mozilla community microblogging site.
- Bleeper.de http://bleeper.de - The largest German language microblogging site.
- Brainbird http://brainbird.net - Frequented by English and Colombian users.
- Twyka Usikike http://twyka.com - Connecting you with Africans around the world.
- SwiSen http://swisen.com - A microblogging site for Chinese speaking people.
- Cielo http://cielo.com - A microblogging site for Spanish speaking people.
There is a comprehensive list of sites here: http://status.net/wiki/
SocialOomph integrates with ALL these StatusNet sites, and all future StatusNet sites, including your own.
Visit our home page now at http://www.socialoomph.com to learn about all the cool features now available.
Best Regards,
Comments
I'd be interested in feedback from others on the ideas in this post about alternatives to Twitter, and on the approach that I should take to identi.ca and StatusNet.
I've created the http://identi.ca/kabissa account as well as a http://identi.ca/group/kabissa group which I suppose identi.ca users can join and use to share updates with each other. So far only a spammer (I think) has joined the group which doesn't bode well and makes me wonder about the new maintenance overhead I have to deal with now that Kabissa is also on identi.ca.
Warm regards,
Tobias
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