One of the most important websites in the English J-blogging community has been shut down. Popular social network site Japansoc.com has been reduced to nothing more than a simple message board after years of repeated spam attacks. This has sent shock waves across the English J-blogging community, as Japansoc.com has become a important meet/share place for many J-bloggers. The lose of mass amount of linkage alone is enough to send some people into fits.
The founder of Japansoc.com, Nick Ramsay, announced that he plans to restart his highly popular social networking site from scratch. The planned restart, which has no official date as of today, will be done using Hotaru CMS. The new CMS is a pet project of Nick and is promised to be more `spam proof` than Japansoc`s current platform Pligg. Nick Ramsay is one of the hardest working people involved in the J-blogging community so there is little doubt that Japansoc.com will return under a great new CMS. You can check-out the latest on the development of Hotaru here and Ramsay`s full announcement concerning Japansoc here.
In the mean time, what does all of this mean for the J-blogging community? How will everyone stay connected during Japansoc`s down time? Looking around the web, there are a few options but none as unique as Japansoc. The best option right now, in my opinion, is TokyoFilter. This site started out as a Japan topic video sharing site from the brain of Billy West. West`s main site 7:10 to Tokyo offers up his unique experiences in Japan. It is always entertaining and sometimes informative. Tokyo Filter has been the `on again,off again` project of West for over a year. Currently it is a message wall in need of membership. Considering Japansoc.com may be down for a while, TokyoFilter is the perfect spot to keep everyone connected and up to date with the J-blogging community.
Anyway, Nick Ramsay deserves all the support in the world for his continued efforts to make the English J-web a better community for everyone. He has done more for the community than most people. I am sure he will keep trucking and offer up an even better Japansoc real soon.
