[RyanMcGreal]

It's an awful lot easier for a bunch of third parties to refactor and fix something that's bad, a piece at a time, than for a bunch of third parties to create something from nothing. Diaspora is a good thing, even if it's bad: the mere fact of its existence and the enthusiasm around making it better gives it a vector of development that a mere idea would never have.

[wmf]

One could argue that it's even easier for a bunch of third parties to improve something less bad like StatusNet, OneSocialWeb, or Appleseed, but apparently Diaspora has sucked all the air out of the room.

Edit: I see jlgbecom already made a similar point below.