By Brian Booher of Modern Day Computers

This is probably going to be one of my shortest reviews on a product ever.

App.net is a social network created by Mixed Media Labs.  It is essentially a paid version of Twitter.  Since people pay for the service, there are no ads posted to anyone.  This can be nice for people who want to get there message out easier since spammers tend to avoid paying for services.

The subscription fees are either $5/month or $36/year for a regular user.  Developers can sign up and access the App.net API (Application Programming Interface) to create their own apps to access App.net traffic, as well as mix in Twitter and Facebook as well.  I wish Google+ would have the same kind of API.

As I said before, App.net is basically a paid version of Twitter.  Most of the people that I follow on Twitter would have the same account name on App.net.

The coolest part of App.net is that you are not restricted to 140 characters.  You are given 256 characters to write your message, so you can write more in one post that would require at least 2 posts on Twitter.

App.net is not as huge as Twitter, and that can be a good thing.  With not as many people on, you have the opportunity to get the name you’ve wanted to get, assuming it’s not under copyright.

Since App.net wants to promote the use of third-party apps, have listed lots of third-party apps to access App.net.  You can find the list of apps here.  Do be aware that some apps, especially on mobile, will be both paid and free.

App.net is interesting to use, but it doesn’t have that WOW! factor to keep me coming back everyday.  It has some still competition with Twitter since Twitter is free, but App.net lets you send out a bigger message than what Twitter allows.

Have fun and geek out!

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