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Identi.ca

Identi.ca

www.identi.ca

September unique visitors: 40,079
Change from August: -35.0%
Funding: Self-funded

Why it's unique: To the consternation of Twitter users, the site often falters amid the demands of processing millions of tweets a day. One possible solution to this problem is on display at Identi.ca, the site that looks most identical to Twitter. What's different is under the hood: Nearly 100 different sites are sharing the load. "Instead of a single service, we're part of a federated network of microblogging sites running open-source software," says Evan Prodromou, who launched Identi.ca this past summer. He expects the service to mushroom from its current base of 30,000 to 500,000 within a year, and thinks it will surpass Twitter in users by 2010.

How it plans to create revenue: Since most microblogs have been ad- and subscription-free until now, Prodromou doesn't think users will buy into those models. Instead, he plans to host and design customized microblogging sites for companies or other communities with large groups of people to support. These customers will "want their own installations with their own theming and custom functionality," Prodromou says.