Month: March 2013

This was originally posted upon Google+ and has been reposted (with a minor update) here. Whenever Twitter or Facebook enrage the digerati there are massive calls for alternative social networks that embrace openness, decentralization, open source code and world peace. Not surprisingly most of these “open” social networks fail to gain traction and either remain a spectacle amongst the geeks or quietly go extinct, only to be replaced (ironically) by centralized social networks. While much text has been violently typed as to why they fail, here are my brief, biased and unscientific observations as to why they fail. Not unique: Most social networks (both federated and non-federated) die here. They are ultimately just another clone, offering no major features to distinguish themselves. Example: When Dispora launched as the Facebook alternative it was just that–a Facebook alternative. Contrast that with Google+ whose distinguishing features is group video chats (aka Hangouts). Spamicide: Once a federated social network has established it’s niche, something amazing happens. Spammers take notice and flood the gates. Multiply that across numerous servers and you then realize why the blogosphere (the closest thing to a true federated social network) abandoned pinging eons ago. Battling the spam bots is similar to the war on drugs–it never ends and demands more time, resources and (ultimately) money than what anyone anticipates. Once spammers take over, users flock away leaving the once...