Twitter Now Speaking Japanese
Image Credit: (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Popular micro-blogging service, Twitter, have recently launched its Japan-based mobile version in a bid to penetrate a market where social networking giants Facebook and MySpace have trouble capturing.
Japanese is the only foreign language offered by Twitter and showcases how the company is serious about making it in Japan considering that this hi-tech country has a leading edge, with advanced mobile usage.
Twitter teamed up with Tokyo-based Internet firm Digital Garage Inc. in early 2008. It launched a Japanese-language platform for cell phones and other mobile devices in the spring of 2008, and hired a Japan country manager earlier this year. It will also be launching Spanish, German, French and Italian Twitter versions in the upcoming months.
Twitter is also using Japan to experiment with ways to make money from features unavailable on its English language site, such as banner ads.
Things are looking up for their Japanese market bid. Between January and June, the number of users jumped almost fourfold to 783,000, according to Internet research firm NetRatings. Japanese celebrities and politicians are also starting to sign up.
The new Japanese mobile version was jointly developed by Twitter and Digital Garage, and is compatible with the country’s major carriers and the quirks of the local market.