mixi
Japan’s Largest SNS Speaks its Own Language
Social networking sites (SNSs) such as MySpace and Facebook have stormed our nation, but what is their equivalent in Japan? Though there is a Japanese version of the former, its presence is nowhere near that of Mixi, Japan’s 1st SNS introduced in February of 2004. Started by 30-something President Kenji Kasahara, this “community entertainment” site has seen astonishing growth in the last four years.
The name Mixi was created from “mix” and “I”, referring to the ideal of the user mixing with others on the site. As of July 2007 there were over 10 million members, representing 1/7 of Japan’s internet users. They tend to be equally divided between males and females, and the largest age group is 20-24 years old followed by those in their late 20’s and early 30’s. As of December there were over 2 million page views per day, putting Mixi second only to Yahoo Japan in terms of web traffic and surpassing You Tube and Google.
Kasahara based the site on Friendster, the SNS popular at the time. Therefore, Mixi is notable for being an invitation only site, meaning you have to receive a mail from an existing member in order to join. After inviting someone to join your page, they become your friend or in Mixi terminology “Maimiku” (abbreviation for My Mixi). Kasahara decided to also add a blog feature which is the popular Mixi diary, and in February of 2007 a video hosting service was introduced.
Members cite the communities you can join based on interest as setting Mixi apart from its competitors. There are as many as one million, with the top ones having over 70,000 participants! One 50-year old male Japanese New York resident offers his opinion: “Mixi allows me to communicate with fellow NBA fans, as well keep in touch with friends back home.” The communities range from groups as random as procrastinators to hay fever sufferers to ramen lovers.
A 40-year old female Japanese New Yorker highlights the “ashiato (footprint)” feature as one of her favorites. This enables you to see who has viewed your page and can introduce you to the pages of others you might be interested in, as well as allow you to monitor who has been checking you out. She adds, “Through diaries I can keep up to date on my friends’ situations and the communities facilitate communication that overcomes age differences.”
Another factor said to contribute to Mixi’s dominance is the close guarding of user data. Despite early privacy issues, as of February of this year an option was created for settings regarding who could see your personal information. This regulation had previously only existed for diaries, but now applies to all aspects of user information. There are three levels of access you can set: visible to the whole user community, for Maimuku only, or for people in the Maimiku of your Maimiku (in other words, friends of friends).
Mixi is such a social phenomenon in Japan that special vocabulary for the site has emerged. One such term is “Mixi Hachibu (Mixi ostracism)”, which describes not being able to access Mixi due to lack of an invitation or being restricted from someone’s page. Another such term is “Mixi Zukare (Mixi fatigue)”. This refers to the condition of heavy users who can no longer maintain their blogs or keep up with constantly adding comments to others’, causing them to retreat from their communities and possibly eventually leave the site.
Recently Mixi announced this policy change to take effect as of April 1st: “By posting information on this service, users grant the service the unrestricted right to use said information without compensation.” As Mixi continues to become larger it will likely have to tackle such issues in the future as well, but these are just part of the growing pains accompanying its incredible success.
— Reported by Stacy Smith
“MIxi mobile” represents Japanese keitai (cell phone) culture.
People often use keitais to view and contribute to mixi.
