CyberAgent And SNS Set Up New Company “7gogo,” Develop Public Group Talk App For Famous People

CyberAgent, Inc. [J] has, in partnership with SNS Inc., established the new company 7gogo Inc. [J] (read: nana gogo), and has also announced the opening of a public group talk application for celebrities. Fujita Susumu of CyberAgent will assume the post of representative director of 7gogo, and with Horie Takafumi as the founder, they will… Continue reading CyberAgent And SNS Set Up New Company “7gogo,” Develop Public Group Talk App For Famous People

One Social Network, Two Different Stories: Qualitative Analysis of Facebook Users in Japan and the US

Since we are getting ready to conduct a large scale cross-cultural survey about social media, as a first step, we qualitatively analyzed how Americans and the Japanese use Facebook. Although qualitative studies are sometimes overlooked because of the small sample size, they tend to provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon that is studied. To… Continue reading One Social Network, Two Different Stories: Qualitative Analysis of Facebook Users in Japan and the US

Does Marriage-Hunting SNS Treat Men As Women’s Livestock?

On Wednesday, A Shibuya-based dot-com venture CyberAgent launched a free mobile SNS, named “Otokonoko Bokujo (a.k.a. Otoboku)” meaning boys pasture, targeting marriage-hunting females. After a female user signs up for an account of the service, she will be allowed to upload portraits and profiles of her male friends to her own “virtual pasture” set up… Continue reading Does Marriage-Hunting SNS Treat Men As Women’s Livestock?

Mixi holds “mixi Appli Conference” on April 23rd

Mixi holds “mixi Appli Conference 2009” [JP] to promote their new app service on April 23rd in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Speakers are: Kenji Kasahara, CEO of Mixi Inc. Akinori Harada, VP, Mixi Division, of Mixi Inc. Koichiro Tsujino, President of Google Japan. Makoto Asanuma, VP of Namco Bandai Games Inc. Minoru Kimura, Head of Media Technology… Continue reading Mixi holds “mixi Appli Conference” on April 23rd

Mixi Bans Their Users From Dating

Social network service Mixi banned users from dating. Mixi changed their terms of policy on December 1st, in accordance with the “Dating site regulation act”. They are now prohibiting users from “using Mixi mainly to meet with strangers of the other sex”. Recently, Mixi has deleted many groups which hold group dating or offline meetings.… Continue reading Mixi Bans Their Users From Dating

Osaka-based Tech Start-up Launches A “Meddlesome” SNS

The Osaka-based tech start-up Qript Inc. launched Friday its eccentric SNS called “Tsutsunuke [J]“, which has several features to avoid its user’s long silence to the service. Note:  “Tsutsunuke” means a situation where the thin wall deprives you of any privacy, and you can hear the tone of your neighbor’s voice in a typical type… Continue reading Osaka-based Tech Start-up Launches A “Meddlesome” SNS

Lang-8: Multi-lingual social network service for learning foreign lanugages

Lang-8 is a unique social network service started by a young entrepreneur Youyou Ki who lieves in Kyoto, Japan. Language Exchange SNS Lang-8 It works in this way. 1.First join to the service. 2.Then write a diary in the language you’re learning. 3.Native spekers of that language who are aslo users of Lang-8 will correct… Continue reading Lang-8: Multi-lingual social network service for learning foreign lanugages

Mixi released its OpenID API

Mixi has released “mixi OpenID” API to public users. It enables developers to use mixi ID for authentication. Also the API has “my mixi authentication” and “community authentication” features. Developers must follows OpenID Authentication 2.0 standard. Also it enables mixi users to use their ID on many existing websites which accept OpenID. “my mixi” is… Continue reading Mixi released its OpenID API

Mobage town – a mobile social network for teens

Mobage town has been started in 2006 by Tomoko Namba, a Mckinsey alumna. “Mobage town” is short for “mobile game town”. So, Mobage provides numerous small games and a social network service for mobile phone users. Essentially users are using Mobage as a social network service. The service has 7.4 million registered users and 13… Continue reading Mobage town – a mobile social network for teens