Five things you didn’t know about Mxit

If you think it’s just a place where people’s spelling and grammar abilities go to die, you’re wrong. Here are five things you didn’t know about Mxit.

1.    It’s a solution to a gaming problem.

Mxit originated in Stellenbosch when Swist Group Technologies was developing a massive multiplayer mobile game named Alaya, which was a flop because it was sms-based and too expensive for the user. They reassessed and released the game and MXit in 2003.

2.    It’s not just for teenagers.

Mxit is now Africa’s largest mobile social network, boasting 750 million messages sent per day and 10 million active subscribers.

 3.    It’s helping money move safely.

You can send money to people, buy airtime and electricity, deposit and withdraw from your bank account. Check it out here.

4.    It gives free access to counselling and educational material.

Mxit offers counselling to youth via text by partnering with LoveLife (which focuses on HIV and AIDS), Childline (which focuses on abuse) and Angel (which focuses on gang members and substance abuse). Learners can also access Maths and Science textbooks made available by publisher, Siyavula.

 5.    It’s proving to be a serious marketing tool.

Kimberly Clark has used Mxit to launch a global Kotex campaign. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we featured Kotex’s Pinterest campaign on the blog just last week.

This Mxit campaign targets young females aged 13 to 35 with brand splash screens (full screen ads that display each time a user launches the site), leading users to a customised and branded app where it’s reported that users hung around for as long as 14.7 minutes.

Through the app, users were offered a gateway to the exchange of product information, polls around sensitive feminine topics, prizes and coupons, and they could engage in one-on-one sessions with a trusted gynaecologist, offering a free, private, safe and anonymous resource for advice and information.