Create Your Very Own "Twitter-Like" Focused Community Free!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


OK. Welcome to some of the best Internet related news you've heard in a long time! Have you ever thought that Twitter cast too broad a net? That too many people start to follow you, and then, when you follow them back, you realize that they speak a completely different language and you cannot read their Tweets?


This happens to me all the time. I get followers from Russia, Korea and other countries that do not Tweet in English and I cannot read their Tweets so I wonder, "What's the point?" 


I think these good people start to follow me because they must have signed up for one of those "Get a 1000 new Twitter followers programs." Well, that's all well and good, but, if you are like me, and using Twitter to get out a message and also interested in Social Media Marketing (SMM) for possible business purposes, this does you no good.


And when I say that they "speak a different language" I do not only mean that they do not Tweet in English... I also get followers who have radically different political, religious, and social views than me... I am not interested in judging these people, but I would prefer not to associate with racist groups and those sorts of things.


I think it is also very important that our communities are kept intimate (I mean, "Real") and focused on certain topics... I guess if people want to be all over the place, then Twitter is fine. If, say, I am interested in sports, I'd love to be in a sports community. Or, even more focused, Rugby, for example... Or music, or Punk Rock, or Dance music.... Whatever!


I want to use my community to communicate with my friends and talk about what we want to talk about.


So that brings me to today's point. A new service named Statusnet.com is allowing you to create your very own "Twitter-Like" community and it's completely FREE!


Start your own community and group. Invite your friends. Become to world's #1 destination for your focus group! And it's all free.


I already started mine and it's for everything about Japan and its URL is: http://japan.status.net/


You can access Statusnet.com right now and start your very own focused community! No more having to sift through tons of unrelated materials on Twitter anymore!


Here's the promotional spiel from Statusnet: 


Soon you will be able to get a hosted solution from StatusNet, using your own domain name, so that you don't even have to worry about servers and software installation. Check out their site at http://status.net and reserve the name you want right now, while the hosted solution is in private beta phase.

Here is a random sampling of the sites already out there:

- Identi.ca http://identi.ca - This is the original StatusNet site and is still the largest.

- The TWiT Army http://army.twit.tv - Run by Leo Laporte, the well-known American technology broadcaster and author.

- Mozillaca http://mozillaca.com - A Mozilla community microblogging site.

- Bleeper.de http://bleeper.de - The largest German language microblogging site.

- Brainbird http://brainbird.net - Frequented by English and Colombian users.

- Twyka Usikike http://twyka.com - Connecting you with Africans around the world.

- SwiSen http://swisen.com - A microblogging site for Chinese speaking people.

- Cielo http://cielo.com - A microblogging site for Spanish speaking people.

There is a comprehensive list of sites here: http://status.net/wiki/ListOfServers



I signed up and got the best name for a Japan related community possible: Japan!


You can do the same too.


Get cracking on it now while the going's good!


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Keywords: Twitter, Social Media Marketing, SMM, Statusnet, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Mike in Tokyo Rogers