Louise Mensch’s Twitter-Like Menshn Opens In UK

Menshn, the Twitter-like social network launched by MP Louise Mensch, has opened for business in the UK.

The service, which promises to be more “on-topic” than its giant rival twitter, now has chat-rooms dedicated to UK politics and the Euro 2012 football tournament. It is home to around 300 members too.

Users can send direct messages, set up private rooms or post in the public chat rooms, with posts limited to 180 characters, instead of Twitter’s 140-character cut-off.

Mensch on UK politics

Menshn’s UK launch was brought forward to Sunday, to capitalise on what turned out to be England’s last game in Euro 2012. The site has been criticised for its complexity and has elements of a social game, where users can get Menshn points when someone follows them, or if they “favourite” a room or “rate” a post.

Mensch (whose profile reads “Co-founder of menshn. Insert quarter. Avoid Klingons”) currently has 1984 points, placing her fifth in the networks leaderboard. Three of  the higher-ranked Menshners have racked up as many as 8500 points, with no visible activity (no recent Menshns), suggesting that some people are playing the system as a game.

Discussion in the UK Politics room covers issues including today’s announcement that Prime Minister David Cameron is considering further cuts to benefits, while the Euro 2012 room predictably covers England’s loss to Italy in the football tournament.

Mensch and her co-founder, former Labour party tech adviser Luke Bozier (1382 points), have been vague about their long-term plans, dismissing the idea of Menshn becoming a real Twitter rival and describing it as a “niche complement”.