14 DAY TRIAL // The proof that Twitter is very serious about becoming a worldwide social networking platform, in case other evidence was needed, is that is has launched a Japanese customized mobile version of its website on Thursday. This move was not caused only by the fact that Japan represents “a leading edge, with advanced mobile usage,” as Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said, but also because more than two thirds of those who frequently access the Internet use their cell phones, while 8 million people use their handsets exclusively for web surfing.
In other words, Twitter will not need to convince users of the advantages of mobile access and browsing, but of the benefits of its 'tweeting' platform. Most of the mobile access is achieved via WAP-like services (like NTT DoCoMo's I-mode) and the generic mobile site of Twitter would not display properly on some Japanese devices. The solution was to create and launch a brand-new site for Japan only.
“I think the exciting things that you are going to see when everyone starts using it is that all the feature functionality that works on all the phones that everyone here in Japan has is totally accessible,” said Kevin Thau, director of mobile business development at Twitter. “Favoriting, at-replys, setting your preferences, on each and every one of the browsers on all the carriers is the goal.”
On the other hand, the new launch in Japan did not just bring a more compatible site to the Japanese phones, but its users will also have the possibility to test and employ emoticons for the first time in the history of Twitter. Japanese teens have been using the smiley faces and other similar icons within their mobile email clients, therefore their absence would not have been ignored.
Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that social networking is gaining more and more fans all over the world, and the fact that Facebook and MySpace have failed to capture too much attention of the Japanese users does not discourage Twitter. To put it simpler, one can also consider the new initiative as an experiment that prepares the ground for other countries.
“Japan is obviously very advanced in mobile so it's a unique opportunity to see how the mobile users in Japan are using Twitter,” said Biz Stone. “And it's also a test for us for the Asian market because it's usually very hard to localize in Asian languages. It's harder than French, German, Italian or Spanish, which we are going to be doing in the coming months. It's largely experimental but it's also a lot of fun.”