j-j.co.za

Back on 2nd September, after having heard about it on twitter and in tech circles, I finally got around to signing up for app.net. I had briefly checked it out before, but given the $50/year fee hadn’t bothered. Is time around I decided that I wanted my @jjza handle on app.net and that the $50 wasn’t that much of an investment to reserve the name. Since then the price has fallen to a more reasonable $36 and early adopters given an extension to their original subscription period.

App.net is still very much under development and after signing up I didn’t really use it much. Then along came Netbot, a rehashed twitter client specifically for app.net and iOS / iPad and its pretty darn slick. So now I have started using App.net a bit more.

There are still not a lot of users on board, although the numbers are increasing rapidly. At the time I signed up there were around 20 000, I’m not sure of the latest count. This low user base was even more apparent when I had Netbot search my twitter follower list and give me the option of following them on App.net. The results were disappointing but at the same time it was good to see a few familiar faces like Erik Hersman, Paul Jacobson and Steven Fry on there.

App.net is still evolving, new features are being added all the time, and Netbot is a really slick client, I like the 256 character limit rather than the 140 of twitter, though honestly can’t tell you if there are any real benefits. I guess that will be figured out as we to along and for now I will cross post stuff between App.net and twitter until a critical mass of followers emerges.

If you make it over that side, follow me : https://alpha.app.net/jjza

Please share your thoughts on the new platform.