“Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members
Pixiv [JP], a Japanese-only “social illustration” network (Asiajin articles), today welcomed its one millionth member. The site boasts a healthy growth rate, as the user base stood at 100,000 in March 2008.
Pixiv claims the site sees 720 million page views monthly and that users submit 15,000 illustrations daily. It’s not hard to believe. Look at this pretty impressive Google Trends graph (especially after April 2009):
The idea behind Pixiv is to provide talented amateur artists with a platform to present their drawings to other people. Registered users can rate these drawings, write comments on them, bookmark them etc. The usual social network features are in place, too: befriending, profiles, messaging etc.
Here is a typical image (click for a larger view):
Premium members pay $6 a month to get a badge on their profile and some other benefits (judging from what I heard, Pixiv also attracts quite a few gaijin who can’t talk Japanese but somehow fight their way through the registration process).
Look here for a list of other social drawing services from Japan.
Author Information Dr. Serkan Toto is a German based in Tokyo. Like us, he is passionate about introducing Japanese IT to the rest of the world.
Serkan is an author for mega tech blog network TechCrunch, covering Japan-related technology and web trends.
Follow Serkan on Twitter here. 3 Responses to ““Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members”
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[...] Launched in September 2007, the Japanese-only “social illustration” service Pixiv broke the one million member mark in June this year (it’s currently ranked at 60 in Alexa Japan). Users (talented amateur [...]
[...] Pixiv Pixivは2007年にローンチしたソーシャル・イラスト・サービスだ（日本語版のみ）。今年6月にPixivのユーザー数は100万の大台を突破した（現在 Alexa Japanの統計で日本で60位）。優秀なアマチュアやプロのイラストレータが、毎日1万5千ものイラストを投稿している（平均滞留時間は13分）。またサイト内ではイラストをめぐって活発なユーザー同士の会話がくりひろげられている。 [...]
[...] service was established in September 2007. Pixiv’s user base stood at 100,000 in March 2008. In June 2009, the site had 1 million members, meaning it added half a million people in about six months. It [...]