1. What exactly is the software element?
The software is an open-source (free to the public, modifiable by anyone who'd care to do so) application, of which the core will consist simply as an improved means of communication (e-mail, messaging, etc.). Additionally, we'll be tacking on a widget which will serve as a means by which network participants can better obtain and distribute the information they're looking for in as simple a manner as possible. One possibility with the widget is that a participant who is connected to four or five other people directly by way of having been picked by a previous participant and having turn invited other participants to the network (it's invitation-based, as I mentioned) will thus be able to push forward a given piece of information - a blog post, for instance - to those directly connected to him or her, and those participants in turn can push then forward to everyone connected to them as well. Meanwhile, by tagging a piece of info with a particular keyword, one can make it available "globally" to anyone who has chosen to receive anything associated with that keyword. We're still deciding on several other additions and trying to determine the best means of having info be distributed - we're considering doing something other than the standard up-down voting one sees on reddit - but we've also determined that participants themselves will be categorized as experts in whatever subjects they handle with particular proficiency, and will have an increased ability to spread info that falls under one of the categories in which they've been determined to excel. Juan Cole, for instance, would be recognized by the network as an expert in MIDDLE EAST, IRAN, ISLAM, etc.
Here's an excerpt from the early summary of the core software; we've got a lot of additional features in the work as well, many of which will serve as information gathering tools specifically geared towards bloggers:
Ego is a Content Management System built on an XMPP based adhoc social
network. The product itself consists of an XMPP server written in
Clojure, and a selection of HTML/JQuery widgets that implement simple,
embeddable, stylable functionality without templating - contact lists,
messaging, profile browsing, etc.
Adhoc
Ego is a social network in the truest sense - there is no hub, no root
server and no central authority. Like email (and XMPP, on which the
federation protocol is implemented), users on the Ego network are
identified by a username and domain, not simply username - Andrew is
now Andrew@ego.fm. By abstracting identity to the domain level,
identity itself becomes domain independent, and common facebook style
social networking functionality becomes "adhoc" - Andrew@ego.fm and
Josh@analgoatsex.com can freely communicate as if they were on the
same site, despite Josh's apparent obsession with deviant sexual
fetishism.
Whitelabel
Ego comes unstyled and without any preconceived notions of the
developer's content schema - it simply attaches common social
networking functionality onto an existing application or design,
through the adhoc network. Brands, groups and content providers can
build there own site on the Ego platform and leverage this
functionality across the adhoc network.
Simple
Ego is designed to be as flexible as possible with regards to design -
the backend is totally configurable, the front end is untemplated, and
core extensions can be directly integrated in Java, Scala, Clojure,
JRuby, Jython or Groovy - plus, there is nothing preventing developers
from simply building around core's functionality in any other language
2. How will the software and/or project raise our visibility?
On such occasions as we coordinate to bring awareness of the failures of some outlet or pundit or journalist, we expect our campaign to be covered by mainstream outlets due to the critical mass we reach that will prompt coverage on their part. As a participant, you're that much more likely to be mentioned or quoted or some such as the shit goes down. Additionally, the network widget will provide a means by which to get one's work passed along across the network and thus be exposed to more readers, at least to the extent that other bloggers dig a given post and decide to vote it forwards.
3. What will the project do for journalists who don't need their profiles boosted i.e. the Taibbi effect?
Not a lot; increased exposure isn't really one of the central goals here, and it's only being considered to the extent that it would benefit the media to have people such as yourself gain visibility and be thought of more widely as an alternative to the douchebag columnists. Journalists who are already high-profile probably aren't going to gain anything for themselves unless they consider media reform to be a personal gain.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thanks,
Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302