I agree that would be cool, but I don't think Diaspora offers anything compelling to the general public. What fraction of FB users actually care that much about privacy?
By the amount of stuff I cannot see on a public profile pages lately and the amount of hidden friendslists - quite a lot in my somewhat diverse circle of friends.
If that was accurate 95% of people would have stopped using Facebook when the NSA's wiretapping was uncovered. Last I checked Facebook hasn't missed a beat
They need facebook because they like their friends. Its immensely important to me that the government stop tapping my phone, but if you think the fact that I still call my grandmother is a sign of consent, you're a fool.
Most of the non-technical people I know are very VERY upset with facebook and privacy, but are still using it in much the same fashion as they're still using their AT&T phone or Comcast cable despite their distaste for policy.
Also that homepage is horrendous. The homepage doesn't tell me anything about why its relevant to me or how it can make my life better. It's selling me features instead of an experience.
"Host a pod"? What kind of illiterate donkey built this garbage. I could write a book about why this site is garbage as an alternative to Facebook.