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Comment by dj2stein9 | Hacker News Reader

Twitter replaced IRC.

Facebook replaced Email.

In both cases they were easier to use solutions to social communications on the Internet. But these profit-seeking corporations are now standing in the way of futher progress. The gatekeepers need to go. A new decentalized protocol to replace both of them desperately needs to developed.

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IRC still has a huge foothold in dev/geek communities. Email is something I use every single day for communication and business. Maybe there's more you'd like to explain but if I'm to just taking this at face value, I have to say you're horribly wrong.

>But these profit-seeking corporations are now standing in the way of futher progress. The gatekeepers need to go.

Neither IRC nor Email are companies that own the rights to their communication method.

Yes I know, I was referring to Facebook and Twitter.

These companies improved upon open protocols, but their business models and motivations are now standing in the way.

Right, and my point is that if they don't want people to mess with their product then its entirely their right to prevent it. While it may not be smart, it's a different situation than email/IRC.

Maybe I'm wrong, but IRC was never mainstream.. I don't see how Twitter could replace a service that only geeks and a very specific demographic used.

I found the way Twitter works very similar to IRC. #hashtags, DM's and @references are all from IRC. Twitter made a system like this easier to use, and centralized it one big system rather than loosely connected chat networks.

In a similar manner Facebook replaced email with a centralized system which again is easier for users but has the same gatekeeper issues.

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