This is the very last thing I’ll write about Alex Payne writing about Twitter. I think.
Payne wrote a great post on his personal blog yesterday with his thoughts on the new version of twitter.com and what it means. He also reflected back on his time (three and a half years) at Twitter, before moving on to his new job, with the banking disruption startup BankSimple. Payne, who has a history of being outspoken (I think I’ve indirectly gotten him in some trouble at least a couple times) is also very insightful. And while he wisely notes, “If you report anything in this post as a likely future direction for Twitter, you are a buffoon,” a few of his thoughts on the recent past of Twitter are worth reporting on. Most notably, his call to decentralize Twitter. → Read More
StatusNet, the startup behind the open source microblogging server with the same name, has taken on additional investment led by New York-based FirstMark Capital and joined by BOLDstart Ventures, iNovia Capital and Montreal Start Up. Founder of open source ad platform OpenX, angel investor and FirstMark Capital partner Scott Switzer will join the StatusNet board.
The fresh round brings StatusNet’s total investment to date to $2.3 million. → Read More
Does the world need more than one Twitter? How about 10,000 of them? That is how many sites are running on the hosted version of StatusNet, which went into private beta at our Realtime CrunchUp last November. Today, StatusNet is opening up its hosted service to all comers in a public beta.
You can think about StatusNet as the WordPress of microblogging. StatusNet is open-source software which can either be downloaded and run on your own enterprise servers or now on StatusNet’s hosted servers. Basic service is free, with plans to charge for premium levels down the line. The premium versions will be ad-free, support unlimited users, larger file sizes, your own domain and design, Facebook and Twitter integration, and XMPP feeds. → Read More
Last year, we saw the launch of identi.ca, the open-sourced alternative to Twitter. At the time, we wrote that the company was never going to rival Twitter. As it turns out, that’s not the goal of parent company StatusNet. Instead, the startup is looking to become something akin to a ‘WordPress for microblogs’. That is to say, they make a platform that others can easily download and install to their own servers. And today they’re showing off the next major step in their platform: a hosted solution for those who don’t want to bother with managing their own install, which will be hosted on status.net.
In effect, Status.Net is to the StatusNet platform as WordPress.com is to WordPress. Status.Net will offer a free package for very basic use, and will then offer a number of premium packages that give access to premium features. We first heard about the upcoming product last month when StatusNet raised $875,000, but until now they haven’t introduced the platform to the public. → Read More
Montreal-based StatusNet, the company behind the open-source microblogging service identi.ca, is closing an $875,000 seed round today. Investors include Montreal Startup, iNovia Capital, Fotolia co-founder Oleg Tscheltzoff, and Xavier Niel. The startup, which changed its name a few weeks ago from Control Yourself, raised a previous seed round of $150,000 from Montreal Startup in January, 2009.
StatusNet wants to become the WordPress of microblogging. It created an open-source microblogging software platform (formerly called laconi.ca, now called status.net) which anyone can download and run on their own servers. Now, it is working on a hosted version of Status.net, currently in private beta. (We have 50 invites for anyone who includes the invitation code “TC09″ on the signup page).
The bet here is that just as millions of people run their own blogs, millions of people and companies will want to run their own microblogs as well. Offering a microblogging platform as a hosted service will allow StatusNet to pursue a strategy similar to WordPress.com. It will offer the basic service for free, and then charge power-users for extras. → Read More
