[CM30]

Maybe because some people want a Twitter alternative that isn't under the control of a single individual, company or group? There's an increasing amount of talk about Twitter trying to censor things that the management doesn't like hearing about, so perhaps some people might prefer a service or system where no one can control what can be said.

Still a few issues though. Like how to overcome the whole network effect thing. These systems aren't very useful unless there's a large audience, and it's hard to draw a large audience if no one's there to begin with.