22-year-old Diaspora co-founder dead in San Francisco
by Steven Mostyn - Nov 15 2011, 09:35
Image: Diaspora.
Sad news for those who ply their trade within the social networking industry today, after 22-year-old Diaspora co-founder Ilya Zhitomirskiy was found dead in San Francisco.
“Ilya was a great guy. He was a visionary, he was a co-founder of a company that hopes to bring a better social networking experience,” commented Diaspora spokesman Peter Schurman.
“We are all very sad that his gone,” he added in an official statemet. “It is a huge loss for all of us, including his family.”
The burgeoning Diaspora network, which is still in its infancy and in search of financial contribution, is looking to appeal to prospective supporters by offering a “fun and creative community that puts you in control”.
This is essentially a sideswipe at market leader Facebook, which has oft been criticized regarding its user privacy and aspects of user control (or lack thereof).
Prior to his death, Zhitomirskiy described his social networking vision as being transcendent of profit and rooted in encouraging users to migrate to services that actively embrace and promote transparent privacy policies.
“There’s something deeper than making money off stuff,” he said during an interview with New York Magazine back in September of 2010. “Being a part of creating stuff for the universe is awesome.”
Diaspora’s future success is yet to be realized but its remaining three co-founders will likely push onward with the network and its positioning as an open platform.
Details concerning Zhitomirskiy’s death have not yet been divulged by the San Francisco medial examiner or police officials.
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