Twitter has many problems, the biggest one being the frequency of the Fail Whale. Identi.ca and its open system hope to overcome this and become a more useful microblogging system.
At first glance, Identi.ca looks extremely similar to Twitter. There is a box at the top that lets you type in a 140-character post and broadcast it to all the users. In your post you can reply or mention another user, post a link, or say whatever you would like to say to the world and your friends. But underneath the hood of Identi.ca, it is very different from Twitter in very significant ways.
In case you are unfamiliar with the term, open source software is free software that anyone can modify and contribute to. This gives Iconi.ca and its software system, Laconica, access to thousands of developers who can contribute to the code.
Laconica can be downloaded and installed on any server while still being able to contact the main Identi.ca servers and its users. This can help spread the load off of the main servers as well as give anyone the opportunity to host their own microblogging system. It is the open source representation of the enormously popular Twitter, promoting community and openness, and devoted to its users.
The creator, Evan, is very active in both the Identi.ca community and in his Laconica software, seemingly always fixing bugs or interacting with others, keeping the users happy as can be. This is very different from what you would see in a closed system like Twitter where developers might never be seen.
Identi.ca adds a few more useful features to its system, such as:
- broadcasting posts directly to Twitter and Facebook
- updating and receiving status updates through G-Talk
- creating and joining groups that can be linked to in posts, and
- logging in with OpenID.
It also includes many popular Twitter features, including sending and receiving updates as text messages on your cell phone. There is also a badge that you can put on your website that includes updates from you and your friends.
So, if you’re into Twitter, and also a fan of Open Source software, then Identi.ca presents a really great combination of both for you to communicate in this ever-changing world we call the Internet.
I am
Thu, Jun 4, 2009, by Namd3r
Social Networks