Mixi -Japanese SNS-

"mixi" is one of the most popular social network sites in Japan.
Mixi had over 10 million users and an 80% share of the social networking market in Japan.
The focus of Mixi is “community entertainment” same as facebook, Myspace or another SNS, that is, meeting new people by way of common interests, and keep in touch with friends.

• Users can send and receive messages, write in a diary, read and comment on other’s diaries, organize and join communities, listen to music, read news, play the game, and invite their friends.
• One of the biggest difference from other SNS is that mixi is invitation-only, meaning that one can only join via an invitation from a current member.
• A footprint is a function that allows a user to see who has visited their page.
• My mixi, or MAIMIKU(short means buddy or friend. This is similar to content in flickr or zoomer or friend on Myspace.
• There is a word “Mixi Fatigue”. it is a psychological state of a Japanese youth experiencing a sense of tiring from using Mixi and voicing a desire to discontinue using Mixi and finally deciding to terminate the Mixi account.

Most of Japanese seek anonymity in using internet. In Facebook most of the people show their own pictures to unknown people, however, in Mixi profile, many Japanese does not use their own pictures. They want to connect many people through SNS but they fear using own pictures.

Nowadays Mixi is spreading widely in Japan. Nobody can stop.