アーカイブ 6月 2010

written by Tsuruaki Yukawa
Bloger in Chief of TechWave

　”Our definition of a social networking service (SNS) is one that provides a connection between friends and acquaintances. In our opinion, by this definition, we are the only SNS in Japan,” said Mixi’s president Kenji Kasahara. Mixi’s way of thinking is that, “Tabelog is a relationship graph that connects people that like food. Mobage Town and Gree are relationship graphs for people that like games. It’s more accurate to call them game graphs or virtual graphs.” That’s an opinion that brings about tension in Japan’s major SNS companies.

　Infinity Venture Summit (IVS) is one of the few occasions where the heads of Japan’s top 3 SNS companies, Mixi, Mobage Town, and Gree, can meet under one roof. So the opinion above, which served as a mutual warning, kicked off the panel discussion, and set the conference room on fire. At the IVS one year ago, Mixi’s director Akinori Harada made the statement, “we are the only SNS in Japan,” with the same meaning as Mr. Kasahara. Mobage’s Isao Moriyasu, who was in the conference room and heard this, commented, “I am Moriyasu, running a SNS like service.” Gree’s Yoshikazu Tanaka continued by broaching the subject with, “I’m Tanaka, who’s said to have ran an SNS.” The conference room was in stitches at these comments.

[もっと読む…] about “We are the only social networking service in Japan.” – Mixi’s Mr. Kasahara