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FReepathon Day 45 ...
Posted on 11/14/2011 4:37:17 PM PST by mgstarr
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Ilya Zhitomirskiy, a co-founder of the startup social networking site Diaspora that put an emphasis on privacy and user-control, has died, a company spokesman said Monday. He was 22.
The cause of Zhitomirskiy's death in San Francisco wasn't immediately known, and neither the company nor the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office would release details.
"Ilya was a great guy. He was a visionary, he was a co-founder of a company that hopes to bring a better social networking experience," said Peter Schurman, a Diaspora spokesman. "We are all very sad that he is gone. It is a huge loss for all of us, including his family."
Zhitomirskiy was one of four students who started Diaspora in a computer lab at New York University.
As an anti-Facebook of sorts, the group raised more than $200,000 by collecting contributions through the website Kickstarter.
Last month, it posted a blog on its website asking for more contributions.
The site champions the idea of sharing while keeping control. On its website, the company promotes itself as a "fun and creative community that puts you in control."
In a video posted on Vimeo in April 2010, when Diaspora first went looking for funds, Zhitomirskiy describes his vision.
"No longer will you be at the whims of those large corporate networks who want to tell you that sharing and privacy are mutually exclusive," Zhitomirskiy said alongside co-founders Raphael Sofaer, Dan Grippi, and Max Salzber.
[snip]
Zhitomirskiy said he and his co-founders didn't set out to make money when they created Diaspora but to instead provide an "open platform" for users.
"There's something deeper than making money off stuff," Zhitomirskiy said. "Being a part of creating stuff for the universe is awesome."
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
That said, glad someone was actually concerned with privacy on these things.
Clearly, the Z-man put out the hit.
RIP.
I still don't get the fascination of social networks - I really don't want to know what other people are up to and frankly don't care much either.
Yet here we are exchanging what we think for hours.
Facebook may be for people who don't have the ideas, but still want to share something.
Aids?
Well good point. FR at least has actual content and ideas. Facebook reminds me of those awful Christmas card inserts from people you rarely talk to anymore giving you the painful minutiae of their family’s activities the past year.
And yet people like my wife are addicted to it :-)
Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.
Facebook is for small minds, FR is for great minds.
Wait until they start tweaking their TOS and then the fun stops. Facebook was sold on the whole idea of ownership and freedom. Not so much anymore. You can't even hide yourself from the rest of the world without Facebook bugging you about the fact that there might be people who don't use Facebook who might interested in finding you.
Thanks for THAT....now I can explain to my friends even more WHY I don’t much care for FACEBOOK....it reminds me of People Magazine or something.....aaaggghhhh
>>Facebook may be for people who don’t have the ideas, but still want to share something. <<
I have family far away that post pics of their kids. Without FB, I would see them rarely.
It’s how you use it. We use it as a family bulletin board. I know when my nieces and nephews get As and they know when my girls start pistol club.
Diaspora sounds like a cause of death.
FR IS a social networking site...it predates Facebook and all others. If JimRob had wanted to I think he could have made a bundle from FR.
Probably drugs of one variety or another.
I’ve heard Facebook referred to as the 21st Century’s AOL.
Welll having been on FR for several years before 1999, thanks for that clarification.
FR is a conservative blog discussing conservative ideas.
It is NOT a social networkIng site in the sense of Facebook.
I’ve been here since before 99 myself (1997 - different user name). The interactions here are more focused (news topics typically), but it puts conversations in an open arena for all to read (and learn from). That’s pretty social.
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