Mixi

First of all, I just want to get something off my chest. LOLLAPALOOZA WAS PHENOMENAL THIS WEEKEND! The energy and vibe at Grant Park was fantastic, the bands rocked my socks off especially the amazingggg Radiohead, the weather was perfect ... even the food was delicious! Wow. Wow wow wow. Wooooooooooow.

phew! right.. onto business..

Michael sent me this article this morning on social networking in Japan that I found interesting. I must say, since I was young, I have always had a fascination with Japanese culture - the street fashion, the art, the people, the architecture, martial arts, the funky gadgets and technology (hooray for Nintendo), everything!! This article really opened my eyes to how Japan has taken a drastically different approach to social networking than, say, Myspace and Facebook. Japan's current social networking sensation, Mixi, focuses on community through diaries, profiles, mini mail, footprint, the Mixi blogging tool, forums, and user privacy. Unlike Myspace and Facebook, Mixi operates on a strict invitation-only basis.

The "Japanese Myspace" also allows the user to rate and review books, games, music, dvds, and other items. As aforementioned, Mixi is very social and thrives on community. Even the pages, from what I have seen (and can read ... well, the parts in English!), are very attractive, cheery and bright, and user friendly.

Wireless Watch Japan notes that the key factor which has contributed to Mixi's success, bypassing rivals Myspace and Facebook, is its "intelligent integration of both the mobile and the PC, delivering a user experience spanning both devices, but providing a differentiated user experience that is tailored to the different usage contexts of both media. The PC version offers feature the mobile version does wisely not have, which are geared to PC-type usage, like a last.fm-like playlist sharing/music SNS feature based on a audio player plugin, and user-generated product reviews. The mobile version, on the other hand, is kept slim and responsive – omitting some of the PC functionalities and delivering a user experience that is geared towards users quickly consuming “bite-sized content”, checking for updates to their friends’ page and communities, as well as contributing quick short posts while on the go. mixi mobile is available as an official (menu-listed) site on DoCoMo i-Mode and au EZ Web, and an inofficial (off-portal) site on SoftBank Mobile." (source: wirelesswatch.jp/docs/mixi_report_contents.pdf )


Yeah, Mixi is pretty cool if you ask me. Now.. if only I could speak Japanese..


Katy Lynch
Community Manager