If you've been waiting for your chance to try out the App.net social networking service but haven't been able to score an invitation for a free account yet, The Mac Observer has you covered. We're giving away a bag full of invitatations to our readers and as long as you act fast you can get in on the action.
TMO has free App.net account invitations, but they're going fast
Thanks to our special code, all you need to do is head over to the App.net website and sign up. Your account is free, but App.net also offers US$5 a month and $36 a year subscriptions that remove the cap on the number of people you can follow.
Once you're signed up, you can use App.net much like Twitter, but posts top out at 256 characters instead of 140. Just like Twitter, App.net is far more interesting if you're following a few people and some of the TMO crew are already App.net users:
App.net also has a directory where you can find some popular users and search for people based on names, topics, locations, and hast tags.
If you prefer to do you online social networking outside of your Web browser, Kiwi is a popular choice for Mac users, and there are some great add-ons that let you use the app's features in Safari and other apps. Developers are coming up with some cool features that let you do more with App.net, like BLIMSketch which lets you draw pictures in your Web browser and post them to your account.
On the iPhone and iPod touch, Riposte, Felix, and Netbot are great choices. On the iPad, Netbot is great, and Rhino is popular, too.
TMO's stash of free invites is limited, so be sure to head over to App.net right away to get your account before they're all gone.