During the usual round of checking the stats, I ran into this interesting little item in the logs:
(ref link: http://omgcheesecake.net/index.php?/topic/2432-whos-this-asshole-in-businessweek/)
Correction, Sean, I “had a meltdown” because the founders (and, apparently, you) think it’s perfectly ok to lie about your security (non-existent), lie about the degree to which you actually support user-requested features (you don’t unless it’s something you want yourselves), and oh, yeah, lie about the degree to which a user actually owns their data (no edit, requires manual intervention to actually remove your history [as of April 2012; be sure to expand and check the comments], and of course, still no method of actually managing that removal across pods).
But, y’see, I got over it.
Apparently, you didn’t.
What’s the matter, sweetie, you’re not getting the attention you need? Not enough people lining up to shake your hand? Annoyed because it’s paid placement and not organic? Maybe you should consider a little more attention to the end users and a little less brown-nosing of the over-inflated, self-interested “Founders-with-a-capital-F-thankyouverymuch” or at least think a bit about how something like the above tells a far more beautiful tale about how “interested” you or pretty much anyone with their hands on the reins of Diaspora actually are (aren’t) about the folk you fool into trying your spaghetti bowl of code.
Let’s be accurate, shall we? The issue was that your craptastic architecture and code was never designed to support “owning your data” or actually removing it when you delete your account. Yeah, I know, those “little things” tend to sting when you should have really given them focused attention but you just couldn’t be bothered because OMG UR SO KOOL 4 UR FOSS SUPPORT, D00D!!! ~yawn~
How fascinating it is that here, months later, not a one of you has managed to figure out how to do this. I believe the stock line is that it’s impossible, except for that pesky reality that it isn’t… it just requires more attention and work than you care to give. Too bad you’re not actually true open source or that problem would have been resolved months ago; after all, it’s not like there aren’t a good number of folks with solutions that you just keep ignoring.
To think, were you as avid about maintaining that vision as you are at bragging about getting attention, there wouldn’t have been any “melt downs”, and almost everyone now complaining would still be happy users/members. Gee, I guess some things just aren’t as important as getting your picture in Businessweek… good to know, Sean, thanks. 
Oh, while I’m at it, congratulations on that great job of throwing one of the few people who actually tried to support you under the bus. Poor ol’ Pistos… if you had any idea the crap he took trying to defend you self-aggrandizing idiots, you’d manage better than trying to use him as an excuse for your own failure to respond to your users (Oh, wait… are you trying to say you implemented those features everyone wanted? No? Yeahhhh, didn’t think so).
Suffice to say, Diaspora is anything BUT “the future of social media” and it certainly isn’t something that anyone can rely upon to be a solid offering that protects their privacy or actually offers anything even close to what was promised.
Newsflash, tootz – there’s this thing called “competition” and it basically proves to you that if/when you’re not listening to your users, someone else will come along and do it so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
That’s pretty much where Diaspora is today and I doubt very seriously it will manage more or better unless someone with more sense that any of you seem to have gets involved and puts a nice, thick barrier between all of you and those who could have made you more than yet another wannabe lost in their own delusions of grandeur… you know, the users.
Oh, wait… that’s right… you don’t know. Kind of the problem in a nutshell; though, admittedly, paid placement in Businessweek is pretty darn funny, too. Though, not nearly as funny as this pointed and very salient comment about the Y Combinator help:
Let’s just hope “your peeps” are better able to submit to mentoring than they were in those dozen or so rounds of failed venture meetings in 2011, hmm?
For that matter, let’s hope that someone has informed Max that no, actually, asking multi-millions for a half-baked system with serious security issue and numerous “beginner flaws” in the code (mebbe you should revisit Patrick’s analysis from 2010 and cross-check against the github source to remind yourself just how many of these remain in place after two years, dear) probably isn’t the way to go.
(Oh, sorry, was no one supposed to notice or understand how paid placement and publicity works? Or have an actual memory? Or know what has gone on behind the scenes? Oops.)
p.s.: I will but mention that the reality that a “community manager” is posting something such as the item that begins this piece really does speak quite eloquently for itself. Maybe you should go back to community management school or ask Y Combinator for some mentoring, dear; suffice to say you’re doing it wrong.
