Identi.ca

identi.ca is an open source social networking and micro-blogging service. Based on StatusNet, a micro-blogging software package built on the OpenMicroBlogging specification, Identi.ca allows users to send text updates (known as "notices") up to 140 characters long. While similar to Twitter in both concept and operation, Identi.ca provides many features not currently implemented by Twitter, including Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) support and personal tag clouds. In addition, Identi.ca allows free export and exchange of personal and "friend" data based on the FOAF standard; therefore, notices can be fed into a Twitter account or other service, and also ported in to a private system similar to Yammer.

The service received more than 8,000 registrations and 19,000 updates within the first 24 hours of publicly launching on July 1, 2008, and reached its 1,000,000th notice on November 4, 2008. In January 2009, identi.ca received investment funds from a Montreal-based venture capital group.

On March 30, 2009 Control Yourself (since renamed StatusNet Inc) announced that Identi.ca was to become part of a hosted microblogging service called status.net to be launched in May 2009. Status.net offers individual microblogs under a subdomain to be chosen by the customer. Identi.ca will remain a free service. All notices will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license by default, but paying customers will be free to choose a different license.