Diaspora (social network)
Encyclopedia
Diaspora is a non-profit, user-owned, distributed social network
that is based upon the free
Diaspora software
. As of November 2011, there are more than 200 thousand users connected to the biggest server. The project was founded in 2010 by four students at New York University
’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
, Ilya Zhitomirskiy
, Dan Grippi, Max Salzberg and Raphael Sofaer. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned pods which interoperate to form the network.
The word Diaspora is Greek
in origin and refers to a scattered or dispersed population.
While the Diaspora software is developed and managed by the Diaspora Foundation, the social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it safe from corporate take-overs, advertising and other threats. In September 2011 the developers stated, "...our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora. Diaspora* will never sell your social life to advertisers, and you won’t have to conform to someone’s arbitrary rules or look over your shoulder before you speak."
Diaspora has been specifically noted by US National Public Radio for its policy that allows the use of pseudonyms, in contrast to its competitors Facebook
, which does not, and Google+
, which is still considering whether to allow pseudonyms
.
. Users of the network can create an account on any server of their choice, but can interact with other users on all other servers.
professor Eben Moglen
. In his speech, delivered to the Internet Society's New York Chapter
, "Freedom in the Cloud", Moglen described centralized social networks
as "spying for free." In a New York Times interview, Salzberg said "When you give up that data, you’re giving it up forever ... The value they give us is negligible in the scale of what they are doing, and what we are giving up is all of our privacy." Sofaer said, "We don't need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn't all that hard to do. All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren't really rare things. The technology already exists". However, Salzberg has said that "Facebook is not what we are going after".
The group decided to address this problem by creating a distributed social network. To obtain the necessary funds the project was launched on 24 April 2010 on Kickstarter
, a crowd funding
website. The first 39 days were assigned to raise the US$10,000 that they estimated would be needed to get started. However, the initial funding goal was met in just 12 days and the project eventually raised more than US$200,000 from over 6000 backers (making it the second most successful Kickstarter project to date). Grippi said "We were shocked. For some strange reason, everyone just agreed with this whole privacy thing." Among the donors was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
who contributed an undisclosed amount, saying "I donated. I think it is a cool idea."
The first Diaspora "pod" was launched by the development team on 23 November 2010; as a private, invitation-only alpha.
In December 2010 ReadWriteWeb
named the project as one of its Top 10 Start-Ups of 2010, saying "Diaspora certainly represents the power of crowd funding, as well as an interest in making sure the social Web is not centralized in one company". On 7 January 2011 Black Duck Software
named the project one of its Open Source Rookies of 2010, for being "the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network. "
Since its release, features of Diaspora have appeared in similar forms in other social networks. In a September 2011 message the developers noted similarities such as Google+
's "circles" (a version of Diaspora's aspects) and new sets of user privacy controls implemented by Facebook. They said "we can’t help but be pleased with the impact our work has had".
In October 2011 the Disapora Foundation announced that it was starting a fundraising campaign. Maxwell Salzberg explained, "we are trying to obtain ongoing community support. We want to maintain Diaspora as a community-financed project, so the core product can remain non-commercial...The key right now is to build something that our community wants to use and that makes a difference in our users' lives. In the future, we will work with our community to determine with them how we could best turn Diaspora* into a self-sustaining operation." Within days of commencing the campaign over US$45,000 had been raised when PayPal
froze the foundation's account without explanation. After a large number of complaints to Paypal from Diaspora users and the threat of legal action, the account was unfrozen with an apology from a PayPal executive, but still without explanation. This incident prompted the acceptance of other payment processors, including Stripe
and Bitcoin
.
On 12 November 2011 co-founder Ilya Zhitomirskiy died, at the age of 22.
The developers consider the distributed nature of the network crucial to its design and success:
Diaspora users retain ownership of their data and do not assign ownership rights. The software is specifically designed to allow users to download all their images and text that has been uploaded at any time.
In September 2011, although the network and its software was still in alpha, Terry Hancock of Free Software Magazine
described it as "already quite usable for some purposes". While it supported text, photos and links, it still lacked some features, including link preview, the ability to upload or embed videos (although videos could be linked to on other services) and chat. Animated GIF
s were supported, however.
On 14 November 2011 Suw Charman-Anderson wrote in firstpost.com, in connection to Ilya Zhitomiskiy's death, about why Diaspora's slower growth can be an advantage:
Distributed social network
A distributed social network is an Internet social network service that is decentralized and distributed across different providers. The emphasis of the distribution is on portability, interoperability and federation capability...
that is based upon the free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
Diaspora software
Diaspora (software)
Diaspora is a free personal web server that implements a distributed social networking service. Installations of the software form nodes which make up the distributed Diaspora social network....
. As of November 2011, there are more than 200 thousand users connected to the biggest server. The project was founded in 2010 by four students at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences is an independent division of New York University under the Faculty of Arts & Science that serves as a center for research and advanced training in computer science and mathematics...
, Ilya Zhitomirskiy
Ilya Zhitomirskiy
Ilya Zhitomirskiy was a Russian-American software developer and entrepreneur. Zhitomirskiy was a co-founder and developer of the open-source social network DIASPORA* and software service Diaspora.-Early life:...
, Dan Grippi, Max Salzberg and Raphael Sofaer. Diaspora consists of a group of independently owned pods which interoperate to form the network.
The word Diaspora is Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
in origin and refers to a scattered or dispersed population.
While the Diaspora software is developed and managed by the Diaspora Foundation, the social network is not owned by any one person or entity, keeping it safe from corporate take-overs, advertising and other threats. In September 2011 the developers stated, "...our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora. Diaspora* will never sell your social life to advertisers, and you won’t have to conform to someone’s arbitrary rules or look over your shoulder before you speak."
Diaspora has been specifically noted by US National Public Radio for its policy that allows the use of pseudonyms, in contrast to its competitors Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, which does not, and Google+
Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
, which is still considering whether to allow pseudonyms
Nymwars
Nymwars is the name given to the conflicts over policies mandating that users of internet service identify using real names. They began in July 2011 when the social networking site Google+ began enforcing its real name only policy by suspending the accounts of users it felt were not following the...
.
Technology
The Diaspora social network is constructed of a network of nodes, or pods, hosted by many different individuals and institutions. Each node operates a copy of the Diaspora software acting as a personal web serverPersonal web server
A personal web server is an appliance that allows users to store and access private files remotely from any device connected to the web. A personal web server might just be an occasional user's computer loaded with the requisite software for remote management or a dedicated high-end computer with...
. Users of the network can create an account on any server of their choice, but can interact with other users on all other servers.
History
Grippi, Salzberg, Sofaer and Zhitomirskiy started the Diaspora project after being motivated by a February 5, 2010 speech by Columbia University lawColumbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
professor Eben Moglen
Eben Moglen
Eben Moglen is a professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and is the founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center, whose client list includes numerous pro bono clients, such as the Free Software Foundation....
. In his speech, delivered to the Internet Society's New York Chapter
Internet Society
The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, nonprofit organization founded during 1992 to provide direction in Internet related standards, education, and policy...
, "Freedom in the Cloud", Moglen described centralized social networks
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
as "spying for free." In a New York Times interview, Salzberg said "When you give up that data, you’re giving it up forever ... The value they give us is negligible in the scale of what they are doing, and what we are giving up is all of our privacy." Sofaer said, "We don't need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn't all that hard to do. All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren't really rare things. The technology already exists". However, Salzberg has said that "Facebook is not what we are going after".
The group decided to address this problem by creating a distributed social network. To obtain the necessary funds the project was launched on 24 April 2010 on Kickstarter
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...
, a crowd funding
Crowd funding
Crowd funding describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations...
website. The first 39 days were assigned to raise the US$10,000 that they estimated would be needed to get started. However, the initial funding goal was met in just 12 days and the project eventually raised more than US$200,000 from over 6000 backers (making it the second most successful Kickstarter project to date). Grippi said "We were shocked. For some strange reason, everyone just agreed with this whole privacy thing." Among the donors was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-creating the social networking site Facebook, of which he is chief executive and president...
who contributed an undisclosed amount, saying "I donated. I think it is a cool idea."
Early development
Work on the Diaspora software began in May 2010. Finn Brunton, a teacher and digital media researcher at New York University, described their method as "a return of the classic geek means of production: pizza and ramen and guys sleeping under the desks because it is something that it is really exciting and challenging." A developer preview was released on 15 September and received criticism for various security bugs.The first Diaspora "pod" was launched by the development team on 23 November 2010; as a private, invitation-only alpha.
In December 2010 ReadWriteWeb
ReadWriteWeb
ReadWriteWeb is a Web technology blog launched in 2003. RWW covers Web 2.0 and Web technology in general, and provides industry news, reviews, and analysis. Founded by Richard MacManus, Technorati ranked ReadWriteWeb at number 12 in its list of top 100 blogs worldwide, as of October 9, 2010. RWW...
named the project as one of its Top 10 Start-Ups of 2010, saying "Diaspora certainly represents the power of crowd funding, as well as an interest in making sure the social Web is not centralized in one company". On 7 January 2011 Black Duck Software
Black Duck Software
Black Duck Software is a Massachusetts US private company. Black Duck Software pioneered the automation of mixed-origin software component reuse management...
named the project one of its Open Source Rookies of 2010, for being "the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network. "
Since its release, features of Diaspora have appeared in similar forms in other social networks. In a September 2011 message the developers noted similarities such as Google+
Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
's "circles" (a version of Diaspora's aspects) and new sets of user privacy controls implemented by Facebook. They said "we can’t help but be pleased with the impact our work has had".
Diaspora foundation
The Diaspora Foundation website was started on 29 September 2011. Its declared mission is "to build a new and better social web, one that’s 100% owned and controlled by you and other Diasporans."In October 2011 the Disapora Foundation announced that it was starting a fundraising campaign. Maxwell Salzberg explained, "we are trying to obtain ongoing community support. We want to maintain Diaspora as a community-financed project, so the core product can remain non-commercial...The key right now is to build something that our community wants to use and that makes a difference in our users' lives. In the future, we will work with our community to determine with them how we could best turn Diaspora* into a self-sustaining operation." Within days of commencing the campaign over US$45,000 had been raised when PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
froze the foundation's account without explanation. After a large number of complaints to Paypal from Diaspora users and the threat of legal action, the account was unfrozen with an apology from a PayPal executive, but still without explanation. This incident prompted the acceptance of other payment processors, including Stripe
Stripe (company)
Stripe is a company that provides online payment processing services. Their stated aim is to make integrating Stripe checkout as easy as Google Checkout or PayPal, but without "sucking"...
and Bitcoin
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network over which users make transactions that are tracked and verified through this network. The word Bitcoin also refers to the digital currency implemented as the currency medium for user transactions over this network...
.
On 12 November 2011 co-founder Ilya Zhitomirskiy died, at the age of 22.
Features
The Diaspora software allows user posts to be designated as "public" or "limited". In the latter case posts can only be read by approved groups (or combinations of groups) set up by the user, termed aspects. Several default aspects exist such as friends, family or work and custom ones can be added. It is possible to follow another user's post without the mutual friending required by other social networks. A user's news stream can be filtered by aspect.The developers consider the distributed nature of the network crucial to its design and success:
Diaspora users retain ownership of their data and do not assign ownership rights. The software is specifically designed to allow users to download all their images and text that has been uploaded at any time.
In September 2011, although the network and its software was still in alpha, Terry Hancock of Free Software Magazine
Free Software Magazine
Free Software Magazine is a website which produces a mostly free-content e-zine about free software....
described it as "already quite usable for some purposes". While it supported text, photos and links, it still lacked some features, including link preview, the ability to upload or embed videos (although videos could be linked to on other services) and chat. Animated GIF
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
s were supported, however.
Reception
On 14 September 2011 Terry Hancock of Free Software Magazine endorsed the Diaspora network in an article entitled Why You Should Join Diaspora Now, Like Your Freedom Depends On It, calling it "good enough" for mainstream use. In explaining his reasoning for encouraging people to sign up he stated:On 14 November 2011 Suw Charman-Anderson wrote in firstpost.com, in connection to Ilya Zhitomiskiy's death, about why Diaspora's slower growth can be an advantage: