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In Japan, a social network where single women can vent frustrations

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Earlier today I wrote about a unique Japanese social network focused on souvenirs. And here’s another strange one. Amaryllis is a social network that allows single ladies in Japan to vent about their life. The community was first launched back in Feburary, and Tokyo-based Zappallas, the company behind this unusual social network, recently unveiled mobile apps for iOS and Android. The company created the community so that single women could vent anonymously about their everyday life as a form of stress relief. Amaryllis is designed for easy use, providing just three main features: Boyaki (which means grouch), ‘Tamariba’ (or ‘gathering place’), and Following. Using the Boyaki feature, users can freely express anything or complain about whatever they want because comments and sharing are not available. If you come across someone you think is interesting, or if you are concerned about the same issues, you can follow her. In the gathering place, single women can post questions to other women. It’s interesting how by using illustrated characters for avatars, their anonymity is more protected, allowing them to express themselves without any reservations. Some examples of topics I found on the gathering place include: A text just asking ‘What Are You Up…

Amaryllis

Earlier today I wrote about a unique Japanese social network focused on souvenirs. And here’s another strange one. Amaryllis is a social network that allows single ladies in Japan to vent about their life.

The community was first launched back in Feburary, and Tokyo-based Zappallas, the company behind this unusual social network, recently unveiled mobile apps for iOS and Android. The company created the community so that single women could vent anonymously about their everyday life as a form of stress relief.

Amaryllis is designed for easy use, providing just three main features: Boyaki (which means grouch), ‘Tamariba’ (or ‘gathering place’), and Following. Using the Boyaki feature, users can freely express anything or complain about whatever they want because comments and sharing are not available. If you come across someone you think is interesting, or if you are concerned about the same issues, you can follow her.

In the gathering place, single women can post questions to other women. It’s interesting how by using illustrated characters for avatars, their anonymity is more protected, allowing them to express themselves without any reservations. Some examples of topics I found on the gathering place include:

  • A text just asking ‘What Are You Up To?’ is annoying
  • What kind of posts turns you off on social networks?
  • This couple really pissed me off

There is a character called Mitsuko on the site who works like a guide to Amaryllis. She posts questionnaires about all kinds of topics ranging from gossip to love issues to an annoying boss.

This sort of secret venting is a surprisingly popular vertical in Japan. There was a mobile social network called ‘Boys Farm’ by CyberAgent a few years back. It let women talk about guys, and actually refer to them by name, disclosing their real identities. That proved to be controversial, and the site was subsequently shut down within a week. Readers may also recall that I wrote about Japanese microblog Arrow’ back in April. That platform allows users to vent their stress toward a single random stranger. There is also an anonymous Q&A social network called ‘Hatsugen-Komachi’ which is wildly popular too. It is operated by a major newspaper company here in Japan.

Will this anger-release niche work out for Amaryllis? We will have to wait and see!

Japanese microblog ‘Arrow’ lets you vent stress towards a single random stranger

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In Japan, since many people are connected with work-related acquaintances on Facebook, many suffer from not being able to express themselves freely. Arrow is an anonymous mini blog that was released in May of 2011, aiming to become a solution to such problems. Arrow has more than 70,000 unique users and over 11 million postings. If you think of this number as people who might be secretly venting about others, that’s a pretty big number. Users on Arrow post their inner thoughts and feelings within the 200 character limit, and then the “Arrow” is sent to a random user on the site. On Arrow, there are no strings attached. The only connection you have with someone is while you’re responding to an arrow or getting a response. Users posts all sorts of things on Arrow, starting from what they’re having for dinner to something more serious like a crisis with their spouse. The good thing about arrow is that you will always get a response. If a user who received an arrow does not respond, the arrow is automatically sent to someone else who would respond. There is a feature called ‘TaraiMawashi’ (meaning to rotate) that allows users to skip…

arrow

In Japan, since many people are connected with work-related acquaintances on Facebook, many suffer from not being able to express themselves freely. Arrow is an anonymous mini blog that was released in May of 2011, aiming to become a solution to such problems.

Arrow has more than 70,000 unique users and over 11 million postings. If you think of this number as people who might be secretly venting about others, that’s a pretty big number. Users on Arrow post their inner thoughts and feelings within the 200 character limit, and then the “Arrow” is sent to a random user on the site. On Arrow, there are no strings attached. The only connection you have with someone is while you’re responding to an arrow or getting a response.

Users posts all sorts of things on Arrow, starting from what they’re having for dinner to something more serious like a crisis with their spouse. The good thing about arrow is that you will always get a response. If a user who received an arrow does not respond, the arrow is automatically sent to someone else who would respond. There is a feature called ‘TaraiMawashi’ (meaning to rotate) that allows users to skip arrows as well.

Kazuki Masuda is the COO of Green romp, the company behind Arrow. He elaborated on the network’s uniqueness:

Arrow is different in that users register themselves anonymously and they can never connect to each other. They are free from the stress and attachments of being connected with their boss or clients and can simply be who they are. And whatever they post, they will always get a response from someone. People will never feel fatigue over using our service.

Arrow-appArrow-app-intro

In Japan, there’s something called “Honne to Tatemae” which roughly translates to the contrast between one’s true intentions/feelings and what is said on the surface. Japanese people often prioritize being polite over being blunt or harsh. Arrow is exclusively for Honnne with no strings attached. Green romp hopes that a place like Arrow and other existing social neworks can co-exist for people living in the digital age.

Not only is this service a very clever one but company itself seems very unique. Interestingly they present a questionnaire before Arrow’s user registration, and selects which users can join depending on the answers. Examples of such questions are “Are you a nice person?,” “Can you take a joke?,” or “Do you use drugs?”

Arrow is available on both iOS and Andoid.