diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 219dc2532..28406380e 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ gem 'messagebus_ruby_api', '1.0.3'
 
 gem 'nokogiri',         '1.6.1'
 gem 'rails_autolink',   '1.1.5'
-gem 'redcarpet',        '3.0.0'
+gem 'redcarpet',        '3.1.1'
 gem 'roxml',            '3.1.6'
 gem 'ruby-oembed',      '0.8.9'
 gem 'opengraph_parser', '0.2.3'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index b6c729d42..cd593f48b 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ GEM
     rb-inotify (0.9.3)
     rdoc (3.12.2)
       json (~> 1.4)
-    redcarpet (3.0.0)
+    redcarpet (3.1.1)
     redis (3.0.6)
     redis-namespace (1.4.1)
       redis (~> 3.0.4)
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rails_autolink (= 1.1.5)
   rb-fsevent (= 0.9.4)
   rb-inotify (= 0.9.3)
-  redcarpet (= 3.0.0)
+  redcarpet (= 3.1.1)
   remotipart (= 1.2.1)
   rmagick (= 2.13.2)
   roxml (= 3.1.6)
diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 97ed376eb..886b905b1 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -98,7 +98,11 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
     if @user = User.find_by_username(params[:username])
       respond_to do |format|
         format.atom do
-          @posts = Post.where(:author_id => @user.person_id, :public => true).order('created_at DESC').limit(25)
+          @posts = Post.where(author_id: @user.person_id, public: true)
+                    .order('created_at DESC')
+                    .limit(25)
+                    .map {|post| post.is_a?(Reshare) ? post.absolute_root : post }
+                    .compact
         end
 
         format.any { redirect_to person_path(@user.person) }
diff --git a/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb b/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index b59537a1e..000000000
--- a/app/helpers/markdownify_helper.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-#   Copyright (c) 2010-2011, Diaspora Inc.  This file is
-#   licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
-#   the COPYRIGHT file.
-
-module MarkdownifyHelper
-
-  def markdown_options
-    {
-      :autolink            => true,
-      :fenced_code_blocks  => true,
-      :space_after_headers => true,
-      :strikethrough       => true,
-      :tables              => true,
-      :no_intra_emphasis   => true,
-    }
-  end
-
-  def markdownify(target, render_options={})
-
-    render_options[:filter_html] = true
-    render_options[:hard_wrap] ||= true
-    render_options[:safe_links_only] = true
-
-    # This ugly little hack basically means
-    #   "Give me the rawest contents of target available"
-    if target.respond_to?(:raw_message)
-      message = target.raw_message
-    elsif target.respond_to?(:text)
-      message = target.text
-    else
-      message = target.to_s
-    end
-
-    return '' if message.blank?
-
-    renderer = Diaspora::Markdownify::HTML.new(render_options)
-    markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(renderer, markdown_options)
-
-    message = markdown.render(message).html_safe
-
-    if target.respond_to?(:mentioned_people)
-      message = Diaspora::Mentionable.format(message, target.mentioned_people)
-    end
-
-    message = Diaspora::Taggable.format_tags(message, :no_escape => true)
-
-    return message.html_safe
-  end
-
-  def strip_markdown(text)
-    renderer = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(Redcarpet::Render::StripDown, markdown_options)
-    renderer.render(text).strip
-  end
-
-  def process_newlines(message)
-    # in very clear cases, let newlines become <br /> tags
-    # Grabbed from Github flavored Markdown
-    message.gsub(/^[\w\<][^\n]*\n+/) do |x|
-      x =~ /\n{2}/ ? x : (x.strip!; x << " \n")
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/app/helpers/notifier_helper.rb b/app/helpers/notifier_helper.rb
index d2d56d7bd..44de54f1c 100644
--- a/app/helpers/notifier_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/notifier_helper.rb
@@ -1,28 +1,20 @@
 module NotifierHelper
-  
+
   # @param post [Post] The post object.
-  # @param opts [Hash] Optional hash.  Accepts :length and :process_newlines parameters.
+  # @param opts [Hash] Optional hash.  Accepts :length parameters.
   # @return [String] The truncated and formatted post.
   def post_message(post, opts={})
-    opts[:length] ||= 200
-    if post.respond_to? :formatted_message
-      message = strip_markdown(post.formatted_message(:plain_text => true))
-      message = truncate(message, :length => opts[:length])
-      message = process_newlines(message) if opts[:process_newlines]
-      message
+    if post.respond_to? :message
+      post.message.plain_text_without_markdown truncate: opts.fetch(:length, 200)
     else
       I18n.translate 'notifier.a_post_you_shared'
     end
   end
 
   # @param comment [Comment] The comment to process.
-  # @param opts [Hash] Optional hash.  Accepts :length and :process_newlines parameters.
+  # @param opts [Hash] Optional hash.  Accepts :length parameters.
   # @return [String] The truncated and formatted comment.
   def comment_message(comment, opts={})
-    opts[:length] ||= 600
-    text = strip_markdown(comment.text)
-    text = truncate(text, :length => opts[:length])
-    text = process_newlines(text) if opts[:process_newlines]
-    text
+    comment.message.plain_text_without_markdown truncate: opts.fetch(:length, 600)
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/helpers/posts_helper.rb b/app/helpers/posts_helper.rb
index ddd8d19d1..6a4758a73 100644
--- a/app/helpers/posts_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/posts_helper.rb
@@ -9,19 +9,8 @@ module PostsHelper
     elsif post.is_a?(Reshare)
       I18n.t "posts.show.reshare_by", :author => post.author_name
     else
-      if post.text.present?
-        if opts.has_key?(:length)
-           truncate(post.text(:plain_text => true), :length => opts.fetch(:length))
-        elsif /\A(?:  # Regexp to match a Markdown header present on first line :
-              (?<setext_content>.{1,200}\n(?:={1,200}|-{1,200}))(?:\r?\n|$)           # Setext-style header
-                  |                                                                   # or
-              (?<atx_content>\#{1,6}\s.{1,200})(?:\r?\n|$)                            # Atx-style header
-               )/x   =~  post.text(:plain_text => true)
-          return setext_content unless setext_content.nil?
-          return atx_content unless atx_content.nil?
-        else
-          truncate(post.text(:plain_text => true), :length => 20 )
-        end
+      if post.message.present?
+        post.message.title opts
       elsif post.respond_to?(:photos) && post.photos.present?
         I18n.t "posts.show.photos_by", :count => post.photos.size, :author => post.author_name
       end
diff --git a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/also_commented.rb b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/also_commented.rb
index c0957e5aa..d5ef2d3f4 100644
--- a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/also_commented.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/also_commented.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 module NotificationMailers
   class AlsoCommented < NotificationMailers::Base
-    include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-    include MarkdownifyHelper
-
     attr_accessor :comment
     delegate :post, to: :comment, prefix: true
 
@@ -11,8 +8,7 @@ module NotificationMailers
 
       if mail?
         @headers[:from] = "\"#{@comment.author_name} (diaspora*)\" <#{AppConfig.mail.sender_address}>"
-        @headers[:subject] = truncate(strip_markdown(@comment.comment_email_subject.squish), :length => TRUNCATION_LEN)
-        @headers[:subject] = "Re: #{@headers[:subject]}"
+        @headers[:subject] = "Re: #{@comment.comment_email_subject}"
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/base.rb b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/base.rb
index 06d21ad5d..ec2950bfb 100644
--- a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/base.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/base.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 module NotificationMailers
-  TRUNCATION_LEN = 70
-
   class Base
     attr_accessor :recipient, :sender
 
diff --git a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/comment_on_post.rb b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/comment_on_post.rb
index 18faa2df7..de01804bb 100644
--- a/app/mailers/notification_mailers/comment_on_post.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/notification_mailers/comment_on_post.rb
@@ -1,16 +1,12 @@
 module NotificationMailers
   class CommentOnPost < NotificationMailers::Base
-    include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-    include MarkdownifyHelper
-
     attr_accessor :comment
 
     def set_headers(comment_id)
       @comment = Comment.find(comment_id)
 
       @headers[:from] = "\"#{@comment.author_name} (diaspora*)\" <#{AppConfig.mail.sender_address}>"
-      @headers[:subject] = truncate(strip_markdown(@comment.comment_email_subject.squish), :length => TRUNCATION_LEN)
-      @headers[:subject] = "Re: #{@headers[:subject]}"
+      @headers[:subject] = "Re: #{@comment.comment_email_subject}"
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/mailers/notifier.rb b/app/mailers/notifier.rb
index c922f2744..5abce9ee0 100644
--- a/app/mailers/notifier.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/notifier.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 class Notifier < ActionMailer::Base
   helper :application
-  helper :markdownify
   helper :notifier
   helper :people
-  
+
   def self.admin(string, recipients, opts = {})
     mails = []
     recipients.each do |rec|
@@ -16,7 +15,7 @@ class Notifier < ActionMailer::Base
   def single_admin(string, recipient, opts={})
     @receiver = recipient
     @string = string.html_safe
-    
+
     if attach = opts.delete(:attachments)
       attach.each{ |f|
         attachments[f[:name]] = f[:file]
diff --git a/app/models/comment.rb b/app/models/comment.rb
index 92c56929c..5fe754c8b 100644
--- a/app/models/comment.rb
+++ b/app/models/comment.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   include Diaspora::Federated::Base
-  
+
   include Diaspora::Guid
   include Diaspora::Relayable
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
   belongs_to :commentable, :touch => true, :polymorphic => true
   alias_attribute :post, :commentable
   belongs_to :author, :class_name => 'Person'
-  
+
   delegate :name, to: :author, prefix: true
   delegate :comment_email_subject, to: :parent
   delegate :author_name, to: :parent, prefix: true
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
     self.post = parent
   end
 
+  def message
+    @message ||= Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new text
+  end
+
   def text= text
      self[:text] = text.to_s.strip #to_s if for nil, for whatever reason
   end
diff --git a/app/models/message.rb b/app/models/message.rb
index 60de53d3d..f73fc87b9 100644
--- a/app/models/message.rb
+++ b/app/models/message.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Message < ActiveRecord::Base
   validate :participant_of_parent_conversation
 
   after_create do  # don't use 'after_commit' here since there is a call to 'save!'
-                   # inside, which would cause an infinite recursion 
+                   # inside, which would cause an infinite recursion
     #sign comment as commenter
     self.author_signature = self.sign_with_key(self.author.owner.encryption_key) if self.author.owner
 
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ class Message < ActiveRecord::Base
     Notifications::PrivateMessage unless user.person == person
   end
 
-  def formatted_message(opts={})
-    opts[:plain_text] ? self.text: ERB::Util.h(self.text)
+  def message
+    @message ||= Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new text
   end
 
   private
diff --git a/app/models/profile.rb b/app/models/profile.rb
index 8224a973b..3e0e425e1 100644
--- a/app/models/profile.rb
+++ b/app/models/profile.rb
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
   def receive(user, person)
     Rails.logger.info("event=receive payload_type=profile sender=#{person} to=#{user}")
     profiles_attr = self.attributes.merge('tag_string' => self.tag_string).slice('diaspora_handle', 'first_name', 'last_name', 'image_url', 'image_url_small', 'image_url_medium', 'birthday', 'gender', 'bio', 'location', 'searchable', 'nsfw', 'tag_string')
-    person.profile.update_attributes(profiles_attr) 
+    person.profile.update_attributes(profiles_attr)
 
     person.profile
   end
@@ -78,13 +78,13 @@ class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   def from_omniauth_hash(omniauth_user_hash)
     mappings = {"description" => "bio",
-               'image' => 'image_url', 
-               'name' => 'first_name',  
+               'image' => 'image_url',
+               'name' => 'first_name',
                'location' =>  'location',
                 }
 
     update_hash = Hash[ omniauth_user_hash.map {|k, v| [mappings[k], v] } ]
-    
+
     self.attributes.merge(update_hash){|key, old, new| old.blank? ? new : old}
   end
 
@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
     birthday.to_s(:long).gsub(', 1000', '') if birthday.present?
   end
 
+  def bio_message
+    @bio_message ||= Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new(bio)
+  end
+
+  def location_message
+    @location_message ||= Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new(location)
+  end
 
   def tag_string
     if @tag_string
diff --git a/app/models/reshare.rb b/app/models/reshare.rb
index b597dea71..da902dc3d 100644
--- a/app/models/reshare.rb
+++ b/app/models/reshare.rb
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ class Reshare < Post
     self.root ? root.raw_message : super
   end
 
+  def message
+    absolute_root.message if root.present?
+  end
+
   def mentioned_people
     self.root ? root.mentioned_people : super
   end
diff --git a/app/models/service.rb b/app/models/service.rb
index 463bd8389..4e443cf50 100644
--- a/app/models/service.rb
+++ b/app/models/service.rb
@@ -3,11 +3,8 @@
 #   the COPYRIGHT file.
 
 class Service < ActiveRecord::Base
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
-
   attr_accessor :provider, :info, :access_level
-  
+
   belongs_to :user
   validates_uniqueness_of :uid, :scope => :type
 
@@ -26,12 +23,12 @@ class Service < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
 
     def first_from_omniauth( auth_hash )
-      @@auth = auth_hash 
+      @@auth = auth_hash
       where( type: service_type, uid: options[:uid] ).first
     end
 
     def initialize_from_omniauth( auth_hash )
-      @@auth = auth_hash 
+      @@auth = auth_hash
       service_type.constantize.new( options )
     end
 
@@ -44,7 +41,7 @@ class Service < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
 
     def options
-      { 
+      {
         nickname:      auth['info']['nickname'],
         access_token:  auth['credentials']['token'],
         access_secret: auth['credentials']['secret'],
diff --git a/app/models/services/facebook.rb b/app/models/services/facebook.rb
index a8a9bf0b7..f49fd2e51 100644
--- a/app/models/services/facebook.rb
+++ b/app/models/services/facebook.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 class Services::Facebook < Service
   include Rails.application.routes.url_helpers
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
 
   OVERRIDE_FIELDS_ON_FB_UPDATE = [:contact_id, :person_id, :request_id, :invitation_id, :photo_url, :name, :username]
-  MAX_CHARACTERS = 63206 
+  MAX_CHARACTERS = 63206
 
   def provider
     "facebook"
@@ -22,11 +21,16 @@ class Services::Facebook < Service
   end
 
   def create_post_params(post)
-    message = strip_markdown(post.text(:plain_text => true))
+    message = post.message.plain_text_without_markdown
     if post.photos.any?
-      message += " " + Rails.application.routes.url_helpers.short_post_url(post, :protocol => AppConfig.pod_uri.scheme, :host => AppConfig.pod_uri.authority)
+      message += " " + short_post_url(post, protocol: AppConfig.pod_uri.scheme,
+                                            host: AppConfig.pod_uri.authority)
     end
-    {:message => message, :access_token => self.access_token, :link => URI.extract(message, ['https', 'http']).first}
+
+    {message: message,
+     access_token: access_token,
+     link: URI.extract(message, ['https', 'http']).first
+    }
   end
 
   def profile_photo_url
diff --git a/app/models/services/tumblr.rb b/app/models/services/tumblr.rb
index 6fef57617..65cecedef 100644
--- a/app/models/services/tumblr.rb
+++ b/app/models/services/tumblr.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 class Services::Tumblr < Service
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper
-
   MAX_CHARACTERS = 1000
 
   def provider
@@ -38,10 +35,10 @@ class Services::Tumblr < Service
   def tumblr_template(post, url)
     html = ''
     post.photos.each do |photo|
-      html += "![photo](#{photo.url(:scaled_full)})\n\n"
+      html << "![photo](#{photo.url(:scaled_full)})\n\n"
     end
-    html += post.text
-    html += "\n\n[original post](#{url})"
+    html << post.message.html(mentioned_people: [])
+    html << "\n\n[original post](#{url})"
   end
 
   def delete_post(post)
diff --git a/app/models/services/twitter.rb b/app/models/services/twitter.rb
index efa13799e..7c5d246ec 100644
--- a/app/models/services/twitter.rb
+++ b/app/models/services/twitter.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 class Services::Twitter < Service
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
   include Rails.application.routes.url_helpers
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
 
   MAX_CHARACTERS = 140
   SHORTENED_URL_LENGTH = 21
@@ -40,7 +38,7 @@ class Services::Twitter < Service
 
   def attempt_post post, retry_count=0
     message = build_twitter_post post, retry_count
-    tweet = client.update message
+    client.update message
   rescue Twitter::Error::Forbidden => e
     if ! e.message.include? 'is over 140' || retry_count == 20
       raise e
@@ -52,7 +50,7 @@ class Services::Twitter < Service
   def build_twitter_post post, retry_count=0
     max_characters = MAX_CHARACTERS - retry_count
 
-    post_text = strip_markdown post.text(plain_text: true)
+    post_text = post.message.plain_text_without_markdown
     truncate_and_add_post_link post, post_text, max_characters
   end
 
@@ -65,7 +63,7 @@ class Services::Twitter < Service
       host: AppConfig.pod_uri.authority
     )
 
-    truncated_text = truncate post_text, length: max_characters - SHORTENED_URL_LENGTH + 1
+    truncated_text = post_text.truncate max_characters - SHORTENED_URL_LENGTH + 1
     truncated_text = restore_truncated_url truncated_text, post_text, max_characters
 
     "#{truncated_text} #{post_url}"
@@ -95,11 +93,9 @@ class Services::Twitter < Service
     return truncated_text if truncated_text !~ /#{LINK_PATTERN}\Z/
 
     url = post_text.match(LINK_PATTERN, truncated_text.rindex('http'))[0]
-    truncated_text = truncate(
-      post_text,
-      length: max_characters - SHORTENED_URL_LENGTH + 2,
-      separator: ' ',
-      omission: ''
+    truncated_text = post_text.truncate(
+      max_characters - SHORTENED_URL_LENGTH + 2,
+      separator: ' ', omission: ''
     )
 
     "#{truncated_text} #{url} ..."
diff --git a/app/models/services/wordpress.rb b/app/models/services/wordpress.rb
index 048cf03f5..0764f7146 100644
--- a/app/models/services/wordpress.rb
+++ b/app/models/services/wordpress.rb
@@ -1,32 +1,30 @@
 class Services::Wordpress < Service
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
-  
   MAX_CHARACTERS = 1000
-  
+
   attr_accessor :username, :password, :host, :path
-  
+
   # uid = blog_id
-  
+
   def provider
     "wordpress"
   end
-  
-  def post(post, url='')
-    res = Faraday.new(:url => "https://public-api.wordpress.com").post do |req|
+
+  def post post, url=''
+    res = Faraday.new(url: "https://public-api.wordpress.com").post do |req|
       req.url "/rest/v1/sites/#{self.uid}/posts/new"
       req.body = post_body(post).to_json
       req.headers['Authorization'] = "Bearer #{self.access_token}"
       req.headers['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
     end
+
     JSON.parse res.env[:body]
   end
-  
-  def post_body(post, url='')
-    post_text = markdownify(post.text)
-    post_title = truncate(strip_markdown(post.text(:plain_text => true)), :length => 40, :separator => ' ')
-    
-    {:title => post_title, :content => post_text.html_safe}
+
+  def post_body post
+    {
+     title: post.message.title(length: 40),
+     content: post.message.markdownified(disable_hovercards: true)
+    }
   end
-  
+
 end
diff --git a/app/models/status_message.rb b/app/models/status_message.rb
index 4e0dfd127..7d1431cf8 100644
--- a/app/models/status_message.rb
+++ b/app/models/status_message.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 class StatusMessage < Post
   include Diaspora::Taggable
 
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
   include PeopleHelper
 
   acts_as_taggable_on :tags
@@ -56,10 +55,6 @@ class StatusMessage < Post
       tag_stream(tag_ids)
   end
 
-  def text(opts = {})
-    self.formatted_message(opts)
-  end
-
   def raw_message
     read_attribute(:text)
   end
@@ -77,12 +72,8 @@ class StatusMessage < Post
     self.raw_message.match(/#nsfw/i) || super
   end
 
-  def formatted_message(opts={})
-    return self.raw_message unless self.raw_message
-
-    escaped_message = opts[:plain_text] ? self.raw_message : ERB::Util.h(self.raw_message)
-    mentioned_message = Diaspora::Mentionable.format(escaped_message, self.mentioned_people, opts)
-    Diaspora::Taggable.format_tags(mentioned_message, opts.merge(:no_escape => true))
+  def message
+    @message ||= Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new raw_message, mentioned_people: mentioned_people
   end
 
   def mentioned_people
@@ -134,7 +125,7 @@ class StatusMessage < Post
   end
 
   def comment_email_subject
-    formatted_message(:plain_text => true)
+    message.title length: 70
   end
 
   def first_photo_url(*args)
@@ -142,7 +133,7 @@ class StatusMessage < Post
   end
 
   def text_and_photos_blank?
-    self.text.blank? && self.photos.blank?
+    self.raw_message.blank? && self.photos.blank?
   end
 
   def queue_gather_oembed_data
diff --git a/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb b/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
index a3e875d30..b3788ca50 100644
--- a/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
+++ b/app/presenters/o_embed_presenter.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 class OEmbedPresenter
   include PostsHelper
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
 
   def initialize(post, opts = {})
     @post = post
@@ -13,14 +12,14 @@ class OEmbedPresenter
 
   def as_json(opts={})
     {
-      :provider_name => "Diaspora", 
+      :provider_name => "Diaspora",
       :provider_url => AppConfig.pod_uri.to_s,
       :type => 'rich',
       :version => '1.0',
       :title => post_title,
       :author_name => post_author,
       :author_url => post_author_url,
-      :width => @opts.fetch(:maxwidth, 516), 
+      :width => @opts.fetch(:maxwidth, 516),
       :height => @opts.fetch(:maxheight, 320),
       :html => iframe_html
     }
diff --git a/app/presenters/post_presenter.rb b/app/presenters/post_presenter.rb
index fa179250a..5c6e410d2 100644
--- a/app/presenters/post_presenter.rb
+++ b/app/presenters/post_presenter.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 class PostPresenter
   include PostsHelper
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
 
   attr_accessor :post, :current_user
 
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ class PostPresenter
   end
 
   def title
-    @post.text.present? ? post_page_title(@post) : I18n.translate('posts.presenter.title', :name => @post.author_name)
+    @post.message.present? ? @post.message.title : I18n.t('posts.presenter.title', name: @post.author_name)
   end
 
   def root
diff --git a/app/views/comments/_comment.mobile.haml b/app/views/comments/_comment.mobile.haml
index 342d2f777..abe2dddbf 100644
--- a/app/views/comments/_comment.mobile.haml
+++ b/app/views/comments/_comment.mobile.haml
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
           = timeago(comment.created_at ? comment.created_at : Time.now)
 
     %div{:class => direction_for(comment.text)}
-      = markdownify(comment)
+      = comment.message.markdownified
diff --git a/app/views/messages/_message.haml b/app/views/messages/_message.haml
index 8c38eafa2..94b23aaa1 100644
--- a/app/views/messages/_message.haml
+++ b/app/views/messages/_message.haml
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@
       = timeago(message.created_at)
 
       %div{ :class => direction_for(message.text) }
-        = markdownify(message, :oembed => true)
+        = message.message.markdownified
diff --git a/app/views/people/_profile_sidebar.html.haml b/app/views/people/_profile_sidebar.html.haml
index 81827ea4b..1cb71e448 100644
--- a/app/views/people/_profile_sidebar.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/people/_profile_sidebar.html.haml
@@ -15,35 +15,35 @@
           .profile_button
             = link_to content_tag(:div, nil, :class => 'icons-mention', :title => t('people.show.mention'), :id => 'mention_button'), new_status_message_path(:person_id => @person.id), :rel => 'facebox'
           .white_bar
-        
+
         - if @contact.mutual?
-          
-          
+
+
           .profile_button
             = link_to content_tag(:div, nil, :class => 'icons-message', :title => t('people.show.message'), :id => 'message_button'), new_conversation_path(:contact_id => @contact.id, :name => @contact.person.name), :rel => 'facebox'
           .white_bar
-        
+
         .profile_button
           = link_to content_tag(:div, nil, :class => 'icons-ignoreuser block_user', :title => t('ignore'), :id => 'block_user_button', :data => { :person_id => @person.id }), '#', :rel => "nofollow" if @block.blank?
-               
 
-      %br 
+
+      %br
 
     -if contact.sharing? || person == current_user.person
       %ul#profile_information
-      
+
         - unless person.bio.blank?
           %li
             %h4
               =t('.bio')
             %div{ :class => direction_for(person.bio) }
-              = markdownify(person.profile.bio, :oembed => true, :newlines => true)
+              = person.profile.bio_message.markdownified
         - unless person.profile.location.blank?
           %li
             %h4
               =t('.location')
             %div{ :class => direction_for(person.location) }
-              = markdownify(person.location, :oembed => true, :newlines => true)
+              = person.profile.location_message.markdownified
 
         - unless person.gender.blank?
           %li
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
               = image_tag(photo.url(:thumb_small))
             %br
               = link_to t('layouts.header.view_all'),  person_photos_path(person)
-  
+
         - if person == current_user.person
           %li.image_list
             %h4
diff --git a/app/views/status_messages/_status_message.mobile.haml b/app/views/status_messages/_status_message.mobile.haml
index dbed137d2..5aba5358d 100644
--- a/app/views/status_messages/_status_message.mobile.haml
+++ b/app/views/status_messages/_status_message.mobile.haml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
       = image_tag post.image_url
 
 %div{:class => direction_for(post.text)}
-  != markdownify(post)
+  != post.message.markdownified
   - if post.o_embed_cache
     != o_embed_html post.o_embed_cache
   -if post.open_graph_cache
diff --git a/app/views/users/public.atom.builder b/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
index 90cbb1422..8dfd609d1 100644
--- a/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
+++ b/app/views/users/public.atom.builder
@@ -27,12 +27,11 @@ atom_feed({'xmlns:thr' => 'http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0',
   end
 
   @posts.each do |post|
-    post = post.absolute_root unless post.absolute_root.nil? if post.is_a? Reshare
     feed.entry post, :url => "#{@user.url}p/#{post.id}",
       :id => "#{@user.url}p/#{post.id}" do |entry|
 
-      entry.title post_page_title(post)
-      entry.content markdownify(post), :type => 'html'
+      entry.title post.message.title
+      entry.content post.message.markdownified(disable_hovercards: true), :type => 'html'
       entry.tag! 'activity:verb', 'http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post'
       entry.tag! 'activity:object-type', 'http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/note'
     end
diff --git a/config/initializers/load_libraries.rb b/config/initializers/load_libraries.rb
index 327616125..29271dcfc 100644
--- a/config/initializers/load_libraries.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/load_libraries.rb
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ require 'typhoeus'
 # Presenters
 require 'post_presenter'
 
-# Helpers
-require 'markdownify_helper'
-
 # Our libs
 require 'collect_user_photos'
 require 'diaspora'
diff --git a/lib/diaspora.rb b/lib/diaspora.rb
index db63f94c8..161dbae8f 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ module Diaspora
   require 'diaspora/parser'
   require 'diaspora/fetcher'
   require 'diaspora/markdownify'
+  require 'diaspora/message_renderer'
   require 'diaspora/mentionable'
   require 'diaspora/exporter'
   require 'diaspora/federated'
diff --git a/lib/diaspora/markdownify/html.rb b/lib/diaspora/markdownify/html.rb
index c31ddbc0c..60209dcd6 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora/markdownify/html.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora/markdownify/html.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,10 @@ module Diaspora
   module Markdownify
     class HTML < Redcarpet::Render::HTML
       include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-      include ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper
 
-      def autolink(link, type)
-        auto_link(link, :link => :urls, :html => { :target => "_blank" })
+      def autolink link, type
+        auto_link(link, link: :urls, html: { target: "_blank" })
       end
-
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/diaspora/message_renderer.rb b/lib/diaspora/message_renderer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a62fe661
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/diaspora/message_renderer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+module Diaspora
+  # Takes a raw message text and converts it to
+  # various desired target formats, respecting
+  # all possible formatting options supported
+  # by Diaspora
+  class MessageRenderer
+    class Processor
+      class << self
+        private :new
+
+        def process message, options, &block
+          return '' if message.blank? # Optimize for empty message
+          processor = new message, options
+          processor.instance_exec(&block)
+          processor.message
+        end
+      end
+
+      attr_reader :message, :options
+
+      def initialize message, options
+        @message = message
+        @options = options
+      end
+
+      def squish
+        @message = message.squish if options[:squish]
+      end
+
+      def append_and_truncate
+        if options[:truncate]
+          @message = message.truncate options[:truncate]-options[:append].to_s.size
+        end
+
+        message << options[:append].to_s
+        message << options[:append_after_truncate].to_s
+      end
+
+      include ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper
+      def escape
+        if options[:escape]
+          # TODO: On Rails 4 port change this to ERB::Util.html_escape_once
+          # and remove the include
+          @message = escape_once message
+
+          # Special case Hex entities since escape_once
+          # doesn't catch them.
+          # TODO: Watch for https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/9102
+          # on whether this can be removed
+          @message = message.gsub(/&amp;(#[xX][\dA-Fa-f]{1,4});/, '&\1;')
+        end
+      end
+
+      def strip_markdown
+        renderer = Redcarpet::Markdown.new Redcarpet::Render::StripDown, options[:markdown_options]
+        @message = renderer.render(message).strip
+      end
+
+      def markdownify
+        renderer = Diaspora::Markdownify::HTML.new options[:markdown_render_options]
+        markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new renderer, options[:markdown_options]
+
+        @message = markdown.render message
+      end
+
+      # In very clear cases, let newlines become <br /> tags
+      # Grabbed from Github flavored Markdown
+      def process_newlines
+        message.gsub(/^[\w\<][^\n]*\n+/) do |x|
+          x =~ /\n{2}/ ? x : (x.strip!; x << " \n")
+        end
+      end
+
+      def render_mentions
+        unless options[:disable_hovercards] || options[:mentioned_people].empty?
+          @message = Diaspora::Mentionable.format message, options[:mentioned_people]
+        end
+
+        if options[:disable_hovercards] || options[:link_all_mentions]
+          @message = Diaspora::Mentionable.filter_for_aspects message, nil
+        else
+          make_mentions_plain_text
+        end
+      end
+
+      def make_mentions_plain_text
+        @message = Diaspora::Mentionable.format message, [], plain_text: true
+      end
+
+      def render_tags
+        @message = Diaspora::Taggable.format_tags message, no_escape: !options[:escape_tags]
+      end
+    end
+
+    DEFAULTS = {mentioned_people: [],
+                link_all_mentions: false,
+                disable_hovercards: false,
+                truncate: false,
+                append: nil,
+                append_after_truncate: nil,
+                squish: false,
+                escape: true,
+                escape_tags: false,
+                markdown_options: {
+                  autolink: true,
+                  fenced_code_blocks:  true,
+                  space_after_headers: true,
+                  strikethrough: true,
+                  tables: true,
+                  no_intra_emphasis: true,
+                },
+                markdown_render_options: {
+                  filter_html: true,
+                  hard_wrap: true,
+                  safe_links_only: true
+                }}.freeze
+
+    delegate :empty?, :blank?, :present?, to: :raw
+
+    # @param [String] raw_message Raw input text
+    # @param [Hash] opts Global options affecting output
+    # @option opts [Array<Person>] :mentioned_people ([]) List of people
+    #   allowed to mention
+    # @option opts [Boolean] :link_all_mentions (false) Whether to link
+    #   all mentions. This makes plain links to profiles for people not in
+    #   :mentioned_people
+    # @option opts [Boolean] :disable_hovercards (true) Render all mentions
+    #   as profile links. This implies :link_all_mentions and ignores
+    #   :mentioned_people
+    # @option opts [#to_i, Boolean] :truncate (false) Truncate message to
+    #   the specified length
+    # @option opts [String] :append (nil) Append text to the end of
+    #   the (truncated) message, counts into truncation length
+    # @option opts [String] :append_after_truncate (nil) Append text to the end
+    #   of the (truncated) message, doesn't count into the truncation length
+    # @option opts [Boolean] :squish (false) Squish the message, that is
+    #   remove all surrounding and consecutive whitespace
+    # @option opts [Boolean] :escape (true) Escape HTML relevant characters
+    #   in the message. Note that his option is ignored in the plaintext
+    #   renderers.
+    # @option opts [Boolean] :escape_tags (false) Escape HTML relevant
+    #   characters in tags when rendering them
+    # @option opts [Hash] :markdown_options Override default options passed
+    #   to Redcarpet
+    # @option opts [Hash] :markdown_render_options Override default options
+    #   passed to the Redcarpet renderer
+    def initialize raw_message, opts={}
+      @raw_message = raw_message
+      @options = DEFAULTS.deep_merge opts
+    end
+
+    # @param [Hash] opts Override global output options, see {#initialize}
+    def plain_text opts={}
+      process(opts) {
+        make_mentions_plain_text
+        squish
+        append_and_truncate
+      }
+    end
+
+    # @param [Hash] opts Override global output options, see {#initialize}
+    def plain_text_without_markdown opts={}
+      process(opts) {
+        make_mentions_plain_text
+        strip_markdown
+        squish
+        append_and_truncate
+      }
+    end
+
+    # @param [Hash] opts Override global output options, see {#initialize}
+    def html opts={}
+      process(opts) {
+        escape
+        render_mentions
+        render_tags
+        squish
+        append_and_truncate
+      }.html_safe
+    end
+
+    # @param [Hash] opts Override global output options, see {#initialize}
+    def markdownified opts={}
+      process(opts) {
+        process_newlines
+        markdownify
+        render_mentions
+        render_tags
+        squish
+        append_and_truncate
+      }.html_safe
+    end
+
+    # Get a short summary of the message
+    # @param [Hash] opts Additional options
+    # @option opts [Integer] :length (20 | first heading) Truncate the title to
+    #   this length. If not given defaults to 20 and to not truncate
+    #   if a heading is found.
+    def title opts={}
+      # Setext-style header
+      heading = if /\A(?<setext_content>.{1,200})\n(?:={1,200}|-{1,200})(?:\r?\n|$)/ =~ @raw_message.lstrip
+        setext_content
+      # Atx-style header
+      elsif /\A\#{1,6}\s+(?<atx_content>.{1,200}?)(?:\s+#+)?(?:\r?\n|$)/ =~ @raw_message.lstrip
+        atx_content
+      end
+
+      heading &&= heading.strip
+
+      if heading && opts[:length]
+        heading.truncate opts[:length]
+      elsif heading
+        heading
+      else
+        plain_text_without_markdown squish: true, truncate: opts.fetch(:length, 20)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def raw
+      @raw_message
+    end
+
+    def to_s
+      plain_text
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def process opts, &block
+      Processor.process(@raw_message, @options.deep_merge(opts), &block)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 130bc1048..000000000
--- a/spec/helpers/markdownify_helper_spec.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,105 +0,0 @@
-#   Copyright (c) 2010-2011, Diaspora Inc.  This file is
-#   licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
-#   the COPYRIGHT file.
-
-require 'spec_helper'
-
-describe MarkdownifyHelper do
-  describe "#markdownify" do
-    describe "not doing something dumb" do
-      it "strips out script tags" do
-        markdownify("<script>alert('XSS is evil')</script>").should ==
-          "<p>alert(&#39;XSS is evil&#39;)</p>\n"
-      end
-
-      it 'strips onClick handlers from links' do
-        omghax = '[XSS](http://joindiaspora.com/" onClick="$\(\'a\'\).remove\(\))'
-        markdownify(omghax).should_not match(/ onClick/i)
-      end
-    end
-
-    it 'does not barf if message is nil' do
-      markdownify(nil).should == ''
-    end
-
-    it 'autolinks standard url links' do
-      markdownified = markdownify("http://joindiaspora.com/")
-
-      doc = Nokogiri.parse(markdownified)
-
-      link = doc.css("a")
-
-      link.attr("href").value.should == "http://joindiaspora.com/"
-    end
-
-    context 'when formatting status messages' do
-      it "should leave tags intact" do
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(:status_message,
-                                 :author => alice.person,
-                                 :text => "I love #markdown")
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should =~ %r{<a href="/tags/markdown" class="tag">#markdown</a>}
-      end
-
-      it 'should leave multi-underscore tags intact' do
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(
-          :status_message,
-          :author => alice.person,
-          :text => "Here is a #multi_word tag"
-        )
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should =~ %r{Here is a <a href="/tags/multi_word" class="tag">#multi_word</a> tag}
-
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(
-          :status_message,
-          :author => alice.person,
-          :text => "Here is a #multi_word_tag yo"
-        )
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should =~ %r{Here is a <a href="/tags/multi_word_tag" class="tag">#multi_word_tag</a> yo}
-      end
-
-      it "should leave mentions intact" do
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(:status_message,
-                                 :author => alice.person,
-                                 :text => "Hey @{Bob; #{bob.diaspora_handle}}!")
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should =~ /hovercard/
-      end
-
-      it "should leave mentions intact for real diaspora handles" do
-        new_person = FactoryGirl.create(:person, :diaspora_handle => 'maxwell@joindiaspora.com')
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(:status_message,
-                                 :author => alice.person,
-                                 :text => "Hey @{maxwell@joindiaspora.com; #{new_person.diaspora_handle}}!")
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should =~ /hovercard/
-      end
-
-      it 'should process text with both a hashtag and a link' do
-        message = FactoryGirl.create(:status_message,
-                                 :author => alice.person,
-                                 :text => "Test #tag?\nhttps://joindiaspora.com\n")
-        formatted = markdownify(message)
-        formatted.should == %{<p>Test <a href="/tags/tag" class="tag">#tag</a>?<br>\n<a href="https://joindiaspora.com" target="_blank">https://joindiaspora.com</a></p>\n}
-      end
-      
-      it 'should process text with a header' do
-        message = "# I love markdown"
-        markdownify(message).should match "I love markdown"
-      end
-    end
-  end
-  
-  describe "#strip_markdown" do
-    it 'does not remove markdown in links' do
-      message = "some text and here comes http://exampe.org/foo_bar_baz a link"
-      strip_markdown(message).should match message
-    end
-    
-    it 'does not destroy hashtag that starts a line' do
-      message = "#hashtag message"
-      strip_markdown(message).should match message
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/spec/helpers/notifier_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/notifier_helper_spec.rb
index 23b178101..9f3e887e9 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/notifier_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/notifier_helper_spec.rb
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe NotifierHelper do
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
-
   describe '#post_message' do
     before do
       # post for truncate test
diff --git a/spec/helpers/posts_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/posts_helper_spec.rb
index 3d31563cc..1d1d6edee 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/posts_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/posts_helper_spec.rb
@@ -12,30 +12,11 @@ describe PostsHelper do
     end
 
     context 'with posts with text' do
-      context 'when :length is passed in parameters' do
-        it 'returns string of size less or equal to :length' do
-          @sm = double(:text => "## My title\n Post content...")
-          string_size = 12
-          post_page_title(@sm, :length => string_size ).size.should <= string_size
-        end
-      end
-      context 'when :length is not passed in parameters' do
-        context 'with a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line'do
-          it 'returns atx style header' do
-            @sm = double(:text => "## My title\n Post content...")
-            post_page_title(@sm).should == "## My title"
-          end
-          it 'returns setext style header' do
-            @sm = double(:text => "My title \n======\n Post content...")
-            post_page_title(@sm).should ==  "My title \n======"
-          end
-        end
-        context 'without a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line 'do
-          it 'truncates posts to the 20 first characters' do
-            @sm = double(:text => "Very, very, very long post")
-            post_page_title(@sm).should == "Very, very, very ..."
-          end
-        end
+      it "delegates to message.title" do
+        message = double
+        message.should_receive(:title)
+        post = double(message: message)
+        post_page_title(post)
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora/message_renderer_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora/message_renderer_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0366720eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora/message_renderer_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Diaspora::MessageRenderer do
+  def message text, opts={}
+    Diaspora::MessageRenderer.new(text, opts)
+  end
+
+  describe '#title' do
+    context 'when :length is passed in parameters' do
+      it 'returns string of size less or equal to :length' do
+        string_size = 12
+        title = message("## My title\n Post content...").title(length: string_size)
+        expect(title.size).to be <= string_size
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when :length is not passed in parameters' do
+      context 'with a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line' do
+        it 'returns atx style header' do
+          expect(message("## My title\n Post content...").title).to eq "My title"
+          expect(message("## My title ##\n Post content...").title).to eq "My title"
+        end
+
+        it 'returns setext style header' do
+          expect(message("My title \n======\n Post content...").title).to eq "My title"
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'without a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line ' do
+        it 'truncates posts to the 20 first characters' do
+          expect(message("Very, very, very long post").title).to eq "Very, very, very ..."
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#html' do
+    it 'escapes the message' do
+      xss = "</a> <script> alert('hey'); </script>"
+
+      expect(message(xss).html).to_not include xss
+    end
+
+    it 'is html_safe' do
+      expect(message("hey guys").html).to be_html_safe
+    end
+
+    it 'should leave HTML entities intact' do
+      entities = '&amp; &szlig; &#x27; &#39; &quot;'
+      expect(message(entities).html).to eq entities
+    end
+
+    context 'with mentions' do
+      it 'makes hovercard links for mentioned people' do
+        expect(
+          message(
+            "@{Bob; #{bob.person.diaspora_handle}}",
+            mentioned_people: [bob.person]
+          ).html
+        ).to include 'hovercard'
+      end
+
+      it 'makes plaintext out of mentions of people not in the posts aspects' do
+        expect(
+          message("@{Bob; #{bob.person.diaspora_handle}}").html
+        ).to_not include 'href'
+      end
+
+      context 'linking all mentions' do
+        it 'makes plain links for people not in the post aspects' do
+          message = message("@{Bob; #{bob.person.diaspora_handle}}", link_all_mentions: true).html
+          expect(message).to_not include 'hovercard'
+          expect(message).to include '/u/bob'
+        end
+
+        it "makes no hovercards if they're disabled" do
+          message = message(
+            "@{Bob; #{bob.person.diaspora_handle}}",
+            mentioned_people: [bob.person],
+            disable_hovercards: true
+          ).html
+          expect(message).to_not include 'hovercard'
+          expect(message).to include '/u/bob'
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "#markdownified" do
+    describe "not doing something dumb" do
+      it "strips out script tags" do
+        expect(
+          message("<script>alert('XSS is evil')</script>").markdownified
+        ).to eq "<p>alert(&#39;XSS is evil&#39;)</p>\n"
+      end
+
+      it 'strips onClick handlers from links' do
+        expect(
+          message('[XSS](http://joindiaspora.com/" onClick="$\(\'a\'\).remove\(\))').markdownified
+        ).to_not match(/ onClick/i)
+      end
+    end
+
+    it 'does not barf if message is nil' do
+      expect(message(nil).markdownified).to eq ''
+    end
+
+    it 'autolinks standard url links' do
+      expect(
+        message("http://joindiaspora.com/"
+      ).markdownified).to include 'href="http://joindiaspora.com/"'
+    end
+
+    context 'when formatting status messages' do
+      it "should leave tags intact" do
+        expect(
+          message("I love #markdown").markdownified
+        ).to match %r{<a href="/tags/markdown" class="tag">#markdown</a>}
+      end
+
+      it 'should leave multi-underscore tags intact' do
+        expect(
+          message("Here is a #multi_word tag").markdownified
+        ).to match  %r{Here is a <a href="/tags/multi_word" class="tag">#multi_word</a> tag}
+
+        expect(
+          message("Here is a #multi_word_tag yo").markdownified
+        ).to match %r{Here is a <a href="/tags/multi_word_tag" class="tag">#multi_word_tag</a> yo}
+      end
+
+      it "should leave mentions intact" do
+        expect(
+          message("Hey @{Bob; #{bob.diaspora_handle}}!", mentioned_people: [bob.person]).markdownified
+        ).to match(/hovercard/)
+      end
+
+      it "should leave mentions intact for real diaspora handles" do
+        new_person = FactoryGirl.create(:person, diaspora_handle: 'maxwell@joindiaspora.com')
+        expect(
+          message(
+            "Hey @{maxwell@joindiaspora.com; #{new_person.diaspora_handle}}!",
+            mentioned_people: [new_person]
+          ).markdownified
+        ).to match(/hovercard/)
+      end
+
+      it 'should process text with both a hashtag and a link' do
+        expect(
+          message("Test #tag?\nhttps://joindiaspora.com\n").markdownified
+        ).to eq %{<p>Test <a href="/tags/tag" class="tag">#tag</a>?<br>\n<a href="https://joindiaspora.com" target="_blank">https://joindiaspora.com</a></p>\n}
+      end
+
+      it 'should process text with a header' do
+        expect(message("# I love markdown").markdownified).to match "I love markdown"
+      end
+
+      it 'should leave HTML entities intact' do
+        entities = '&amp; &szlig; &#x27; &#39; &quot;'
+        expect(message(entities).markdownified).to eq "<p>#{entities}</p>\n"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "#plain_text_without_markdown" do
+    it 'does not remove markdown in links' do
+      text = "some text and here comes http://exampe.org/foo_bar_baz a link"
+      expect(message(text).plain_text_without_markdown).to eq text
+    end
+
+    it 'does not destroy hashtag that starts a line' do
+      text = "#hashtag message"
+      expect(message(text).plain_text_without_markdown).to eq text
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb b/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
index 47b52139e..1f59a4bb2 100644
--- a/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mailers/notifier_spec.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe Notifier do
-  include ActionView::Helpers::TextHelper
-  include MarkdownifyHelper
-
   let(:person) { FactoryGirl.create(:person) }
 
   before do
@@ -120,7 +117,7 @@ describe Notifier do
     end
 
     it 'BODY: contains the truncated original post' do
-      @mail.body.encoded.should include(@sm.formatted_message)
+      @mail.body.encoded.should include(@sm.message.plain_text)
     end
 
     it 'BODY: contains the name of person liking' do
@@ -150,7 +147,7 @@ describe Notifier do
     end
 
     it 'BODY: contains the truncated original post' do
-      @mail.body.encoded.should include(@sm.formatted_message)
+      @mail.body.encoded.should include(@sm.message.plain_text)
     end
 
     it 'BODY: contains the name of person liking' do
@@ -224,7 +221,7 @@ describe Notifier do
       end
 
       it 'SUBJECT: has a snippet of the post contents, without markdown and without newlines' do
-        comment_mail.subject.should == "Re: Headline It's really sunny outside today, and this is a super long ..."
+        comment_mail.subject.should == "Re: Headline"
       end
 
       context 'BODY' do
@@ -265,7 +262,7 @@ describe Notifier do
       end
 
       it 'SUBJECT: has a snippet of the post contents, without markdown and without newlines' do
-        comment_mail.subject.should == "Re: Headline It's really sunny outside today, and this is a super long ..."
+        comment_mail.subject.should == "Re: Headline"
       end
 
       context 'BODY' do
diff --git a/spec/models/services/facebook_spec.rb b/spec/models/services/facebook_spec.rb
index 2c1d9d882..221ea5a3c 100644
--- a/spec/models/services/facebook_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/services/facebook_spec.rb
@@ -25,17 +25,17 @@ describe Services::Facebook do
     end
 
     it 'removes text formatting markdown from post text' do
-      message = "Text with some **bolded** and _italic_ parts."
-      post = double(:text => message, :photos => [])
+      message = double
+      message.should_receive(:plain_text_without_markdown).and_return("")
+      post = double(message: message, photos: [])
       post_params = @service.create_post_params(post)
-      post_params[:message].should match "Text with some bolded and italic parts."
     end
 
     it 'does not add post link when no photos' do
-      message = "Text with some **bolded** and _italic_ parts."
-      post = double(:text => message, :photos => [])
+      message = "Some text."
+      post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: message), photos: [])
       post_params = @service.create_post_params(post)
-      post_params[:message].should match "Text with some bolded and italic parts."
+      post_params[:message].should_not include "http"
     end
 
     it 'sets facebook id on post' do
diff --git a/spec/models/services/twitter_spec.rb b/spec/models/services/twitter_spec.rb
index 463ae8957..5a6bfecbd 100644
--- a/spec/models/services/twitter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/services/twitter_spec.rb
@@ -38,9 +38,10 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
     end
 
     it 'removes text formatting markdown from post text' do
-      message = "Text with some **bolded** and _italic_ parts."
-      post = double(:text => message, :photos => [])
-      @service.send(:build_twitter_post, post).should match "Text with some bolded and italic parts."
+      message = double
+      message.should_receive(:plain_text_without_markdown).and_return("")
+      post = double(message: message, photos: [])
+      @service.send(:build_twitter_post, post)
     end
 
   end
@@ -53,19 +54,19 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
 
     it "should not truncate a short message" do
       short_message = SecureRandom.hex(20)
-      short_post = double(:text => short_message, :photos => [])
+      short_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: short_message), photos: [])
       @service.send(:build_twitter_post, short_post).should match short_message
     end
 
     it "should truncate a long message" do
       long_message = SecureRandom.hex(220)
-      long_post = double(:text => long_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+      long_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: long_message), id: 1, photos: [])
       @service.send(:build_twitter_post, long_post).length.should be < long_message.length
     end
 
     it "should not truncate a long message with an http url" do
       long_message = " http://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-url-name-that-will-be-shortened.html " + @long_message_end
-      long_post = double(:text => long_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+      long_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: long_message), id: 1, photos: [])
       @post.text = long_message
       answer = @service.send(:build_twitter_post, @post)
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
 
     it "should not cut links when truncating a post" do
       long_message = SecureRandom.hex(40) + " http://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-url-name-that-will-be-shortened.html " + SecureRandom.hex(55)
-      long_post = double(:text => long_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+      long_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: long_message), id: 1, photos: [])
       answer = @service.send(:build_twitter_post, long_post)
 
       answer.should match /\.\.\./
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
 
     it "should append the otherwise-cut link when truncating a post" do
       long_message = "http://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-decoy-url.html " + SecureRandom.hex(20) + " http://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-url-name-that-will-be-shortened.html " + SecureRandom.hex(55) + " http://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-decoy-url-part-2.html"
-      long_post = double(:text => long_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+      long_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: long_message), id: 1, photos: [])
       answer = @service.send(:build_twitter_post, long_post)
 
       answer.should match /\.\.\./
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
 
     it "should truncate a long message with an ftp url" do
       long_message = @long_message_start + " ftp://joindiaspora.com/a-very-long-url-name-that-will-be-shortened.html " + @long_message_end
-      long_post = double(:text => long_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+      long_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: long_message), id: 1, photos: [])
       answer = @service.send(:build_twitter_post, long_post)
 
       answer.should match /\.\.\./
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ describe Services::Twitter do
 
     it "should not truncate a message of maximum length" do
         exact_size_message = SecureRandom.hex(70)
-        exact_size_post = double(:text => exact_size_message, :id => 1, :photos => [])
+        exact_size_post = double(message: double(plain_text_without_markdown: exact_size_message), id:  1, photos: [])
         answer = @service.send(:build_twitter_post, exact_size_post)
 
         answer.should match exact_size_message
diff --git a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
index 7ee8b4bc5..221bd4966 100644
--- a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -150,18 +150,6 @@ STR
       @sm = FactoryGirl.create(:status_message, :text => @test_string )
     end
 
-    describe '#formatted_message' do
-      it 'escapes the message' do
-        xss = "</a> <script> alert('hey'); </script>"
-        @sm.text << xss
-
-        @sm.formatted_message.should_not include xss
-      end
-      it 'is html_safe' do
-        @sm.formatted_message.html_safe?.should be_true
-      end
-    end
-
     describe '#create_mentions' do
       it 'creates a mention for everyone mentioned in the message' do
         Diaspora::Mentionable.should_receive(:people_from_string).and_return(@people)
diff --git a/spec/presenters/post_presenter_spec.rb b/spec/presenters/post_presenter_spec.rb
index dca62936e..19d2bdafb 100644
--- a/spec/presenters/post_presenter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/presenters/post_presenter_spec.rb
@@ -65,32 +65,17 @@ describe PostPresenter do
 
   describe '#title' do
     context 'with posts with text' do
-      context 'with a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line'do
-        it 'returns atx style header' do
-          @sm = double(:text => "## My title\n Post content...")
-          @presenter.post = @sm
-          @presenter.title.should == "## My title"
-        end
-
-        it 'returns setext style header' do
-          @sm = double(:text => "My title \n======\n Post content...")
-          @presenter.post = @sm
-          @presenter.title.should == "My title \n======"
-        end
-      end
-
-      context 'without a Markdown header of less than 200 characters on first line 'do
-        it 'truncates post to the 20 first characters' do
-          @sm = double(:text => "Very, very, very long post")
-          @presenter.post = @sm
-          @presenter.title.should == "Very, very, very ..."
-        end
+      it "delegates to message.title" do
+        message = double(present?: true)
+        message.should_receive(:title)
+        @presenter.post = double(message: message)
+        @presenter.title
       end
     end
 
     context 'with posts without text' do
       it ' displays a messaage with the post class' do
-        @sm = double(:text => "", :author => bob.person, :author_name => bob.person.name)
+        @sm = double(message: double(present?: false), author: bob.person, author_name: bob.person.name)
         @presenter.post = @sm
         @presenter.title.should == "A post from #{@sm.author.name}"
       end