Ego project: Decentralized Social Networking
Channel: Polychronis Ypodimatopoulos
Date: 14/12/2009

Ego is project back from 2009 that established a decentralized social network out of agents running on individual URL addresses on the web. Ego is to social networking what P2P is to file-sharing. Like in P2P networks, each user uses a program, dubbed agent, that discovers and communicates with other programs in the internet by following a well-defined and extensible protocol. Unlike P2P networks, agents are indexable by search engines and as such can discover each other by doing a simple web search. This eliminates the need for seeding nodes, directories, central servers, etc. Agents allow their owner to select the levels of access different groups can have to private information, search engines included. Agents can also run arbitrary, downloadable applications that extend their capabilities, like keeping track of their location, interfacing with their owner over IM, etc.

Developed at the Viral Communications group, MIT Media Lab, April 2009
Video credits: Paula Aguilera