gnu-social/doc-src/faq

These are some *Frequently Asked Questions* about this service, with
some answers.

What is %%site.name%%?
----------------------

%%site.name%% is a [micro-blogging](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging) service.
You can use it to write short notices about yourself, where you are,
and what you're doing, and those notices will be sent to all your friends
and fans.

How is %%site.name%% different from Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, Plurk, others?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

%%site.name%% is an [Open Network Service](http://opendefinition.org/ossd). Our main
goal is to provide a fair and transparent service that preserves users' autonomy. In
particular, all the software used for %%site.name%% is [Free Software](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software), and all the data is available
under the [%%license.title%%](%%license.url%%) license, making it Open Data.

The software also implements the [OpenMicroBlogging](http://openmicroblogging.org/) protocol, meaning that you can have friends on other microblogging services
that can receive your notices.

The goal here is *autonomy* -- you deserve the right to manage your own on-line
presence. If you don't like how %%site.name%% works, you can take your data and the source code and set up your own server (or move your account to another one).

Where is feature X?
-------------------

The software we run, [Laconica](http://laconi.ca/), is still in its early stages,
and many features people expect from microblogging sites are not yet implemented. Some important ones that are expected "soon":

* More [AJAX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX)-y interface
* Maps
* Cross-post to Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
* Pull messages from Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, etc.
* [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/) integration
* Image, video, audio notices

There is [a list of bugs and features](http://laconi.ca/trac/) that you may find
interesting. New ideas or complaints are very welcome.