Pump.io

pump.io is an open-source implementation of a social-network server that "does most of what people really want from a social network", letting people post messages, pictures, videos, etc., where their friends can see them, without all the obnoxious commercialism and spying that's connected with the mainstream social networks.

On the other hand, what "people really want" is a social network that all their friends are on, which adds some difficulty for any new one to get off the ground, especially a decentralist one like this where there can be lots of independent servers; how would you get all your friends to use the same server as you so you can all connect? Or is there some sort of inter-networking to let people talk to one another across a diverse network of servers (which is how the Internet works in the first place)?

Supposedly, among its features is an ability to develop "distributed advertising models for commercially run pump.io networks", so maybe, if it catches on, the obnoxious commercialism will come there too.

Links

 * Official site
 * GitHub
 * Hello, pump.io