A popular Japan blogging platform, Mixi, has just implemented a functionality on their system that lets its users to write a 150 character message on their profile which will then be broadcasted to the user’s friends. Only the 2 latest messages will be shown (although, a link is provided to display all previous messages). The new feature looks very similar to Facebook status update/Twitter stream so that anyone with previous experience with the latter will feel as if Mixi is just copying them.
Mixi might still be the blogging company with the most users in Japan. However, Facebook localization to Japanese and the recent boom of Twitter are events that Mixi probably cannot ignore. Even if it is just copying the feature from Facebook or Twitter, implementing the feature at the early stage before Facebook or Twitter strengthen their niche in Japanese market is probably the best way to instill habits of using Mixi to microblog in its users.
Is Mixi copying Facebook? What certain here is that Mixi only provides blogging service when they first started, but later added on a series of features, such as “People you might know” suggestion, ability to create photo albums and videos, and Mixi applications, which all had been the core features of Facebook. The latest micro blogging feature reinforces this assumption even further. I won’t be surprised if Mixi implements AJAX like feature to make the microblogs look more streaming like Facebook status update or Twitter. However, considering how cluttered the current Mixi layout is (it is so cluttered with ads, etc that only 2 friends’ status update are shown), I doubt Mixi will implement that using the current layout.
Is Mixi introduction of microblogging feature a good move? Probably. Considering Mixi enormous usage share in Japan and the convenient ‘all-in-one’ SNS blogging platform it provides, loyal Japanese users are less likely to move towards a new platform that provide similar functionalities i.e. Facebook, unless it provides something that Mixi does not. However, considering Mixi’s current emphasis on blogs as their main product, Twitter is likely to gain firmer standing as a broadcasting platform for different target audience such as non-bloggers. Moreover, the recent proliferation of third party services to Twitter (i.e. monitter, TweetValue, etc) has big potentials to pave new ways for the traditional SNS blogs.