Social networking is becoming an increasingly important and powerful way for young adults the world over to share their thoughts and feelings towards anything from political instability to what they will be doing this holiday season.

It only takes looking at what is happening in the Arab world to understand the impact that the socially connected have on all levels of society.

Mxit, as Africa’s largest social network, maintains that online social environments have a responsibility to provide their communities with the type of free and frank information that allows users to make informed decisions on critical issues.

The mobile social platform today responded to its community’s need for information by making The Daily Maverick, one of the country’s most respected independent news portals, available to its users.

“Information, or access to fair, unbiased commentary is a critical component to include in social networks because it helps young adults form an educated position on issues that could have an profound effect on their future,” says Alan Knott Craig, Mxit’s CEO.

Mxit regularly surveys its community of over 50 million registered users to establish their awareness of and sentiment towards important issues. It has effectively become the voice of young adults on the continent and Knott Craig believes that the inclusion of excellent reporting will provide the network with greater depth and help to increase the value and power of debate.

Styli Charalambous, CEO of The Daily Maverick and iMaverick, says: “We’re extremely excited to make the Daily Maverick’s unique analysis and reporting available to Mxit users. We pride ourselves on providing a better understanding of the important issues affecting South Africa and the more people we can share the message with, the better.

“No matter your age or background, the issues we tackle are relevant to the overall well-being of the nation and affect everyone. Mxit allows us to get our work in front of so many more people than we could have reached on our own,” says Charalambous.

Where can you find the Daily Maverick on MXit? Will let you know as soon as I’ve found it.

One such instance is using MXit for real wwworld monetary transactions. You can now pay for your coffee at Vida in Stellenbosch using MXit Moola.

If is really awesome to see things Your Web AddiCT(s); have been pondering and predicting coming true over the past 6 years. Let’s take a trip down the MXit memory lane…

• Before you could get HIV Counselling and Drug Advice and Support you could get driver education and training assistance & support via MXit. (2006)
• Before you could Vote 4 Table mountain or your favourite Idols wana-be-star on MXit you could do this. (2007)
• Later on in 2007 Yasser asked if MXit was ready for ready for mCommerce. The answer was yes for digital, not so much for real world products per se until the Vida video above. No longer will the feature-phone rich African continent need to upgrade to NFC devices to tap-and-pay. This must surely be a sign of micro-payments coming a step closer to MXit.
• Some more ideas shared here about MXit that came true recently: When I shared TrustFabric (August 2011) with you I also mentioned: “Imagine having your kids mobile numbers connected to the Child Protect service… I can even picture MXit users parent’s, who are concerned about their children’s safety in chat rooms meant for a more mature audience, control with who their kids converse on Africa’s largest social network simply by setting up Child Protect.” 3 months later MXit’s new owners, World of Avatar, invests in TrustFabric.

It is always awesome seeing ideas and concepts shared here first come to life a little while later Have a few more ideas floating around in my head which I haven’t shared with anyone yet. Maybe it’s time to head down to Stellenbosch again and pay the MXit team a visit, if the new owners will let me in.

MXit has been sold to Word of Avatar with a rumoured price tag of R500 million. Don’t think we’ll ever know what it really went for, maybe future financial results released by Naspers will give everyone a clearer indication of the exact amount. Alan Knott Craig Junior (AKC) will be taking over the reigns from Herman Heunis who is now taking a well deserved break. Is MXit worth the money? Alistair Fairweather asks on M&G today. There are 2 sides to the ‘is MXit worth it?’ argument of which Tyler Reed has a more glass-half-full perspective and I agree with both of them on some statements.

On TechCentral AKC mentions that there is an opportunity for MXit to get their ducks in a row.

Here are list of things I believe MXit needs to or should do to get their ducks in a row…

A real MXit API, not just an SDK

Since MXit announced the launch of their API SDK it gave those who code in .NET as part of their day job for big corporates something to do. Can anyone point me to real innovation in the mobile and web space that does not have it’s foundations in the open source and open standards space? If you know of any feel free to comment below. I believe the first duck MXit needs to line up is the open and freely available API that would really push MXit to it’s limits. Yes MXit are concerned about their users’ safety and should continue along that path of vetting every app before allowing to play nicely with MXit. See how I didn’t uses any word longer than three syllables there?

Flip the MXit advertising funnel

As far as I know MXit is actually 2 companies: South Africa & International. I may be wrong here but this quote from AKC during his interview with Alec Hogg makes me wonder:

ALEC HOGG: But is it profitable though? Does it make money or not?
ALAN KNOTT-CRAIG JNR: MXit South Africa makes money.

Why would he say MXit South Africa is profitable if MXit is global with users in 120+ countries? I’ll tell you why? Many Advertising/Marketing decision makers in South Africa who decide where the money gets spent are still living in the Don Draper era where the way you feel about spending money is more important than the actual data. The same reason only big brands locally have prolonged campaigns on MXit: MXit advertising is damn expensive (the last time i checked) and there are many agencies big and small who have made killings by obfuscating the “How to Advertise on MXit” process.

AKC please please please simplify this process ala-Google Adwords. You have more demographic data about your users, even more than the mobile service providers (Vodacom, MTN, Cell C) including age, gender, location and.. and.. and all the other personal info at your fingertips. That’s because your users feel as if they have a relationship with you thanks to very very intelligently written sales-copy throughout the MXit ecosystem that makes users feel as if they’re simply chatting to Joe Banker, Tradepost and the various other bots that make the experience awesome. I sense an infusion of highly targeted, location-specific ads infused into the various conversations. These could be run by companies of all sizes who only need to reach 100 of your users to be a success instead of the big brand big budget blanket campaigns targeting everyone who logs in with a splash screen. You’re probably working on that already, right?

This will be part one in a series of articles where Your Web AddiCT will just throw ideas out there about things MXit could do to achieve greatness in Africa and the wwworld beyond.

What do you think MXit can do to change things for the better?

The social network recently reinvented its look and in addition to its normal safety features, it included a number of new security measures, including allowing users to manage their privacy settings by enabling or disabling their profiles in public searches.

Here are 14 Ways MXit are proactively protecting it’s users.

1. Chatrooms are moderated for up to 14 hours a day – with extensive moderator presence available in all Teen Zones.
2. A Chatroom Blocking feature is available for parents with children of a sensitive age, which enables them to block access to this environment on MXit. (See MXit > Info > Chat Zone Block).
3. In compliance with the Child Protection Act, MXit does not allow adults to engage with children or teenagers. All chatrooms are split into the age groups 13 to 17, 18+ and adult, to ensure that the interaction in the chatrooms is age appropriate.
4. The private chatroom feature has been disabled to users aged between 13 to 17 years old. This measure ensures that a young person is further protected from “going private? with a stranger who has dubious motives.
5. A user can set up their own chatroom with their friends and password-protect it. This ensures that access is by invitation only – and after 36 hours of inactivity the room will shut down.
6. User identity remains anonymous when he or she is in a (public) Chat Zone.
7. Typing in a “.rat” command, when in a chat room on MXit, will allow a user to report any abuse they may experience on MXit. MXit then receives the authority to see the last 30 strings of this conversation; and will follow up within 6 to 12 working/office hours.
8. A user navigating MXit is continually prompted not to reveal any personal information, including user profiles, personal details and/or photographs. Every time a user enters a Chat Zone, he or she is reminded to keep all personal details private.
9. All chatrooms contain profanity filters.
10. MXit’s Dating Game is age restricted to 18+ and all profiles are randomly moderated.
11. MXit Xchange, the classifieds service of MXit, is moderated 24 hours a day and every post is moderated before it?s posted on MXit.
12. MXit’s terms and conditions state that a user?s minimum age has to be 13 years. This is to protect vulnerable users who may not be emotionally mature enough to engage with this type of platform.
13. Defamatory material circulating on MXit must be reported to support@mxit.com
14. MXit will suspend or ban users that abuse its technology – and in extreme cases, following correct legal process, it will assist authorities when the abuse warrants their involvement.

Since the launch of the MXit API SDK some interesting MXit games have been launched. The proof-of-concept game built by MXit was tiXi and also Chess. Since then a few other MXit games have become available. You can see a showcase of games and app build using the MXit SDK here.

A new MXit game that has been released by Bazooka Games recently is Battle Trivia.

Battle Trivia allows players to play in multiplayer trivia rooms, competing for points by answering trivia questions.

Play Battle Trivia by adding this MXit contact: bg.battletrivia

All questions are generated by (and is licensed to) Bazooka Games and are categorised according to type, genre and difficulty. The points awarded to a player depends on the amount of players competing, amount of players correctly answering a particular question and question difficulty. Bonus points or multipliers may be awarded for answer streaks.

Batlle Trivia on MXit

Another MXit game is Moonbase….

Moonbase is a game in which thousands of players from around the world compete against each other in a real-time contest of military, economic and political strategy.

You start the game in charge of a brand new Moonbase which produces resources (Oxygen, Water, Iron and Helium) and has a few buildings that allow you to explore your neighbourhood and communicate with Moonbases nearby.

Your main job as the Moonbase commander is to decide what to do with the resources that your Moonbase produces. You can use them to upgrade your resource mines, which increases their rate of production, or you can use the resources to construct new buildings that allow your Moonbase to do new things. The Trade Pod allows you to trade with other players. Building a War Room allows you to construct an army to defend your base or attack others. A Comm Station is where you form an alliance and coordinate their actions, and the Research Lab is where you invest in new technologies that unlock more and more capabilities.

Getting a grip on military tactics is crucial to your survival on the Moon. Moonbuggies are the cheapest unit and are slow and good at defending, but Gunships are better for attacking because they have better offensive weaponry, faster speed and more storage space for plundered resources. Laser cannons are huge, lumbering siege weapons that are only useful for one thing: pounding your enemy’s Moonbase into the Moondust!

While commanding your own units and managing your base are both crucial elements in the game, the most important part is managing your alliance. The only way to win the game is to be a part of the one alliance strong enough to defeat the others, so the real test of the game is to see which group of people can work together the best to outsmart all the rest.

Play on Mxit Games
Add Moonbase as a contact or add it as a Service by going to Tradepost > Games > Multiplayer Games > Moonbase

Play on your PC
Go to apps.facebook.com/playmoonbase

Play on the mobile web
Go to www.moonbase.mobi

If you know of any MXit Games or have developed a game specifically for MXit please get in touch or post a comment below.

MXit V6

Everyone is talking about the new MXit V6 coming out really shortly. Judging by the traffic surge this site has experienced over the past week everyone wants to download the new MXit and find out about the new features of MXit v6.

Wait no more. Herewith the new features of the new version of MXit :

As you can see from the image above taken at Mobile Media Mindblast there will be a fresh new look and feel. I’ve heard it being compared to BBM *hurl*.

• Registration changes have been made to this feature to make it easier for new users to get started on MXit.
• Home Screen a new section was created in the client to allow users to find key services and applications within MXit.
• Contact roster has hints helps users discover how to add contacts, chatzones and MultiMX’s
• APP roster which allows users to better manage all their apps installed on MXit
• Improvements to Tradepost gaming section with deep linking from the MXit Application to specific areas in Tradepost
• Contact Search user can now search for their friends
• Phonebook upload users can upload their entire phonebook to find their friends on MXit
• Settings Improvements, we have reworked settings to make it easier for users to find and customize their MXit application
• Improved Navigation to help the user to complete their common tasks
• Profile preview users can now investigate friends and non-friends profiles to make sure they chatting to the right person MXit is not about anonymity so much and more about Profile privacy. Previously invites to users were shown with very little information describing the inviter. According to survey conducted 80% of MXit wants more user information to be displayed.

How will this benefit MXit users?

• It is now easier to get started on the new MXit – because registration is easy and once you inside MXit they have made it easy to discover all the good stuff that is on offer in MXit
• We have made it easy to find your friends on MXit by introducing Search by Name, email, phone number. You can also upload your phonebook to find friends automatically. MXit has implemented enhancements to our friend suggestion service
• You can now Preview peoples profiles to help you make sure you are connecting to your best mates (rather than evil stalkers)
• The new MXit has been given a facelift with new icons and a fresh, cleaner layout.
• MXit’s apps let’s you do everything from reading the news to conquering the moon. Making it easier for you to manage your Apps and discover new ones (Games, Content, Weather- all other apps)
• Chatting has been improved. It will now be easier to see who  wants to chat to you and you now better manage all your chats at once
• You will be able to easily send- sound clips (MP3s), pictures and files.

As an aside. MXit do NOT have 10 million users in South Africa. That number is closer to 30 million. Do not believe all the infographics you see Do not download MXit from a friend who has shared a link with you to a non-MXit site. Only download MXit v6 from m.mxit.com to avoid dissapointment.

1. You can retrieve your MXit pin via SMS. To get your MXit Pin Number SMS ‘pin’ to 34006 from the cell/mobile number you initially registered when you register for the MXit service. This option only works in South Africa.
2. You can also retrieve your pin number via email. simply complete this form by entering you MXit login name, and E-mail address registered on MXit account.

If you haven’t already, be sure to assign an email address to your MXit account. Do this Now ‘cos there is no other way of retrieving you MXit pin if you’ve lost your sim card or your number has changed.

Classifieds on mobile and the Web with MXit Xchange

So how does MXit Xchange work?

Not only can the 9 million mobile Xchange users place and view classified ads directly from their mobiles. The ‘normal’ internet user who wants to buy, sell or exchange goods can do so via the web interface and direct contact the sellers.

Advertising on Xchange:

To advertise on Xchange we need to plug you into the MXit community by registering you online and giving you a MXit ID. They also cater for different needs so you need to register as either an:

• Individuals: Non-MXit users can register as an individual and create a MXit ID via the online  registration process. If you’re already a MXit user simply register and enter your existing MXit ID and PIN when asked to do so. To advertise you will need Moola, MXit’s internal currency, which you can buy via credit card on the website or via MXit on Joebanker.
• Small Businesses: As the business owner you can register your company on MXit Xchange and set-up your account. Your business will also have to have a MXit ID and a PIN so that your online inventory is linked to your MXit ID so mobile users can contact you directly from Xchange mobile.
• Big Business or Pro-bono organizations: Big organizations that want to list their entire catalogue on Xchange are welcome to do so large file uploads are catered for. Pro-bono entities that would like to use the Xchange platform to sell things are also welcome to set-up an account and MXit will get in touch with you directly.

All ads places are checked by MXit moderators before going live to prevent any unsavoury ads from being placed thus protecting the community. This is still very early days for the online classifieds version of the popular MXit Xchange product and I’m sure the inventory currently listed will soon improve. This could be an opportunity for Mobile phone companies like Nokia, HTC, LG and Samsung to reach their target audience in a whole new way. Only time will tell. For more information visit MXit Xchange

Setting MXit mail up is pretty easy. Simply follow the following instructions:

• Log Into MXit
• Go to Tradepost
• Select Workshop (Option 16)
• Select MXit Mail Beta (Option 4)
• Select Y to add MXit Mail BETA to your contact roster.

You now have your own email address @ MXit.IM. Please not this is not a MXit.co.za or MXit.com address but an @MXit.IM email address. Your email address will be the number you use to sign into the IM platform or the name you’ve claimed.

To claim your MXit username go to Tradepost, select option 18 (Claim your name) and follow the prompts to change or add your name (to be used as your emailaddress@mxit.im). MXit have just added 27million more email address to Africa (Africa’s largest Social Network). This email is pretty spam proof as you must have already sent the person an email from MXit or have added them to your address list in order for you to receive any emails from them.

[image source She's The Geek]

MXit is… Everything you can imagine. And then some. From chatrooms, games and shopping to movie clips, music and sport – this is the place to discover and share stuff. All you need is a mobile or internet connection. It’s free to join. Just plug in, switch on and get the conversation started.

So today I attended the launch of the MXit API. I was pretty excited about this one from the hype surrounding it mainly because there was a lot of talk of MXit finally “opening up” and creating an open API for anyone to use. Turns out that this is not really the case at all.

Firstly, as the launch event started, the audience was asked not to tweet anything without running it by the MXit folks first (you know in case they have to deal with more bad press), at which point I should have left, but didn’t.

The “API” as it turns out, is really an SDK. A Microsoft .Net C# SDK at that. There is no API (well not counting the standard XMPP “API” which we have been using for years anyway) at all, but a Windows DLL that contains an interface to the MXit currency functions (they call it Moola) and some basic messaging options. They have also introduced a simple markup language that allows some simple graphical elements to be cached client side for performance. The markup would be really useful IMO, but that seems to be secondary to MXit themselves.

Essentially the DLL is only useful to Microsoft Visual Studio coders as it uses the Net.TCP function to do the bidirectional API calls. That basically means that you cannot even hack this thing onto Mono and still use a Free Software stack to run your apps. There is a WCF service that runs on top of the API to handle the requests to handle the HTTP requests from client apps.

This could all have been achieved in a much easier way by sticking to pure old XMPP plus a basic API to handle some non-standard XMPP stanzas for the transactions etc. I do not know why they approached it in this way at all.

Basically the MXit API is Yet Another Walled Garden (YAWG) that I do not need to think about again.

For those that are interested in doing something with the “API” the approach would be:

1. They are very interested in games, so make a simple text based multiplayer game.
2. Get in real early. I suspect that the apps will quickly become saturated and lose novelty fast, so start coding immediately if you think that you may want to make money from this thing
3. Be aware that your revenue stream is based on MXit Moola, which means a Premium Rated SMS service via MXit. That means that for every Rand you charge your clients, you will get 50c

One vector that I can think of for one person to make an absolute fortune from this would be to buy the infrastructure and software and create an Open API around it for 3rd party devs to use. You will essentially become the middle middleman and create value for everyone in the world that does NOT want to fiddle with Windows DLL’s and such. You could then charge a small transaction fee on that service.

Overall, I was underwhelmed, but lunch was good, so thanks to MXit for that! We also got a goody bag(let) full of stickers and a cap, so I am sure my kids will have fun with those.

SA entrepreneurs and developers to host their applications on MXit

MXit today launched a beta version of the MXit API (application programming interface), which gives entrepreneurs/software developers the ability to create social, commercial, entertainment, gaming, social upliftment and other applications for the vast user base of MXit worldwide.

The launch not only opens a commercial door for people wanting to engage with users of one of the continent’s largest mobile media platforms, but it has the potential to provide a lucrative revenue stream.

“This is perhaps the most exciting chapter in MXit’s history as a mobile social network and time will tell where this new evolution will take us,” says Herman Heunis, CEO and founder of MXit. “The launch of the API allows software developers/entrepreneurs, from anywhere in the world, with a brilliant idea or concept to create unique applications for our users. The main obstacles normally facing entrepreneurs in the mobile space, such as support for countless different phones, marketing of their application(s), revenue collection and secure billing, are all taken care of as we not only support more than 2,500 different mobile handsets, but also have our own virtual currency, MXit Moola.

As an entrepreneurial spirited company, it is important to us that entrepreneurs who engage with us are rewarded with a revenue share, which could be as much as 70% (after cost). By opening MXit for external application development, the social network is effectively giving entrepreneurs/developers an opportunity to use their creativity to extend their business or software development to a mobile community that has a natural affinity for social interaction. Paramount to this is protection of our users and we will screen external applications carefully to ensure they fall within our brand values”.

Heunis continues, “It’s all about creating applications that will excite or fulfill a definite need to the community. Our aim, as always, is to ensure that our users are consistently delighted by our platform and its capabilities; and this is illustrated by the way MXit has evolved from an instant messaging platform in the early days to a mobile social network that incorporates vast communities that use MXit to enhance their lifestyles.”

How to develop applications for MXit:

An external developer will need to register with MXit at code.mxit.com.

Once registered and logged in for the first time, a test application name and password will be issued to connect the test application to MXit. This will allow developers to become familiar with all aspects of creating an application on MXit’s platform.

Prior to actual development of an application, the concept needs to be approved by MXit to ensure it falls within the MXit brand guidelines and is applicable to its user base.

Once approved and developed, the application will be hosted by the developer.

What this means for the MXit community:

An application library will enable users to select and try out submitted applications from a constantly updated menu list. Users will pay for an application or virtual goods within the application using MXit Moola – unless the application is free or has sponsored advertising within it.

Proof of concept

MXit has launched some prototypes that are already proving popular with their community; for example, tiXi, a time-based, multi-player educational word game that allows users to compete against each other by compiling words from random letters.

Thousands of games are started every day in English, Afrikaans and numerals. A game lasts 10 minutes, a user has 60 seconds to enter a game, and any number of users can start simultaneously.

Users invite friends from their contact list to participate, thus increasing the game’s social impact.

This is most of the MXit API launch press release. I’ve made some notes while at the event which I’ll publish later. Maybe MXit will be hosting events like this more regularly. Maybe call it MXitCon?