Recently Nikkei.net, an online media of Japan’s leading business media that also publishes newspapers, magazines and books, posted an interesting article on the result of its online survey about SNS they implemented in December 2010.
Although it has not revealed how many people responded to the survey, the results provide insight to the current situation and possible outlook of social media and SNS in Japan. Therefore, the author would like to explain it in this article as a follow-up of the previous articles from Vol.45 – 2011 Trend of Social Media: Worldwide and Japan (Part 1) through Vol.47 – 2011 Trend of Social Media: Worldwide and Japan (Part 3).
1. What are the survey results?
3 questions were asked to online users to vote and give comments if any. The questions, results of the vote, and summary of comments are as below.
1) Which SNS do you currently use? Multiple answers are acceptable.
(1) Result of the vote
SNS Name URL Brief explanation of SNS No. of votes
Mixi / http://mixi.jp/ Japan’s SNS leader / 306
Gree / http://gree.jp/ / Japan’s leading SNS strong in social games / 57
Mbga Town / http://mbga.jp/ Japan’s mobile portal site & SNS by DeNA, strong in social games / 26
MySpace . http://jp.myspace.com/ Worldwide SNS originated in the U.S. / 254
Facebook / http://www.facebook.com/ / Worldwide largest SNS originated in the U.S. / 27
LinkedIn / http://www.linkedin.com/ / Worldwide professional SNS originated in the U.S. / 72
Others / - / - / 46
N/A (Don’t use SNS) / - / - / 190
Explanation of SNS is by the author, who added URL as well to the article information.
(2) Summary of comments
People seemed to be surprised that Twitter was not included in the option because it is categorized as microblogging because they seem to feel it has SNS factors.
Facebook is the leader worldwide but Mixi is still the leader in Japan. One reason seems to be language issue. Japanese SNS are not available in English and other languages. For this reason, early adaptors of Facebook in Japan include those who would like to (re)connect with friends abroad as well as web experts.
What people desire is high security SNS, preferably originated in Japan, if not sufficiently localized to meet Japan market needs.
2) Which SNS would like to use in the future? Multiple answers are acceptable.
(1) Result of the vote
SNS Name / URL / Brief explanation of SNS / No. of votes
Mixi / http://mixi.jp/ / Japan’s SNS leader / 105
Gree / http://gree.jp/ / Japan’s leading SNS strong in social games / 21
Mbga Town / http://mbga.jp/ / Japan’s mobile portal site & SNS by DeNA, strong in social games / 15
MySpace / http://jp.myspace.com/ Worldwide SNS originated in the U.S. / 34
Facebook / http://www.facebook.com/ / Worldwide largest SNS originated in the U.S. / 252
LinkedIn / http://www.linkedin.com/ Worldwide professional SNS originated in the U.S. / 51
Others / - / - / 34
Don’t know / - / - / 139
Don’t want to use SNS / - / - / 145
Explanation of SNS is by the author, who added URL as well to the article information.
(2) Summary of comments
Most comments are on Facebook, which can be summarized that people are interested in and would like to try Facebook because they can network with people around the globe and it has been hot topic among media lately. Also some people point out that Facebooko has superior operability and has abundant functions which allow them to develop and maintain online networking effectively.
However, there are some others who would not use intend to use Facebook because they would like to keep work and private separate. Such people seem to find it is difficult to keep them separate on Facebook and they are happy to keep the two separate by using Twitter and blog.
Some others find current SNS has too much “fun, entertainment” factors and prefer business SNS. And some others who voted for “don’t know” say they already use Twitter and Facebook which is already sufficient; they do not have time and manpower to start using additional SNS.
3) What do you feel are problems or what are you dissatisfied with of the current SNS? Multiple answers are acceptable.
(1) Result of the vote
Options / No. of votes
Current IT services such as e-mails are sufficient / 132
Worried about privacy issues / 328
Using SNS daily is time consuming / 247
Others (to be specified in comments) / 41
Not dissatisfied / 118
(2) Summary of comments
Half or more comments were about privacy issue. Some people question the necessity of excessive online networking with people they have not met face-to-face. Some others are worried about security of private information and pointed out that security management is not sufficient e.g. registration is extremely simple. Some others pointed out about anonymity of the Internet world and some others about spoofing issue saying that he/she actually had problems with spoofing. And some others mentioned that level of etiquette and literacy of SNS among users is too varied and education to enhance the general level of etiquette and literacy of SNS users.
Some people who voted for “not dissatisfied” commented that Facebook is designed well and that privacy issue applies also in real world and it is that each individuals that are responsible for his/her privacy management. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that some others feel that flexible privacy setting of Facebook makes the SNS like a black hole in a closed online network.
Comments that was not about privacy include the fact that SNS is addictive to make you tired giving negative impact on real world community, and the fact that smart phones (in Japan) have been rather slow in adapting to needs attributing to rapid SNS growth such as application development and popularity.
2. What are the author’s final thoughts? (Conclusion from the survey result)
The survey results support the previous 3 articles by the author about recent social media trend and possible outlook in Japan, especially the following points.
1) Facebook to outbreak and 2011 will be the “first year of social media” in Japan
Facebook is getting hot and it is very likely that more people in Japan will start Facebook. The outbreak of Facebook in 2011 is a matter of time, or rather, it is already breaking. There have been so many online articles on Facebook in January, events related to Facebook. A summit was held in Tokyo on January 14, and on the same day in Osaka a co-hosted preview event plus discussion on a topic was held by a leading Japanese newspaper and Osaka University (team of students studying SNS) of the movie about Mark Zuckerberg that went on from January 15. There was a survey result targeted some 100 companies announced very recently that more respondents are interested in Facebook than Twitter. Indeed as an online article forecasted, 2011 will likely to be the “first year of social media” in Japan.
2) Privacy issue will become hot
Privacy issue, although it had not been much discussed in Japan, is a big concern for online users and therefore it is quite probable that this issue becomes hot in 2011 and we will see online articles etc. also in Japan.
3) Mobile and SNS grow together
Growth of smart phone (feature phone) is correlated with growth of social media and SNS. The entering of smart phone in Japan in 2010 by multiple OS companies was a big factor for Twitter’s gaining popularity and also the Twitter’s breakout drove more diversified products to be launched in Japan. Facebook’s popularity in 2011 would likely to further drive this trend, as well as more mobile applications meeting Japan local needs to be developed and provided to Japanese users.
4) Cannibalization among SNS, new strategy for Japan players needed for survival
One final insight as the conclusion of the 3 above points is the fact that Facebook popularization in Japan following Twitter cannibalization phenomenon is likely to occur in Japan SNS/social media market. This is because there is a limit to the number of social media vehicles one person can manage and/or one person can devote his/herself using social media. As in a recent online article of an interview of a senior executive of Mixi, Japanese SNS are thinking of new strategy and new competitive functions and services in order to survive global SNS and social media entering and gaining popularity in Japan.
References:-
Collaboration online survey result: Social Net Revolution – The Third Wave in IT (in Japanese)
http://www.nikkei.com/news/research/vote/result/q=9694E0E6E3E0E0E2E3E2EAEBE0E4;p=9694E0E6E3E0E0E2E3E2EAEBE0E6;o=F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2F2
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Friday, 7 January 2011
Vol.47 – 2011 Trend of Social Media: Worldwide and Japan (Part 3)
This article is the last part of the discussion on social media 2010 trend and 2011 outlook for Japan, focusing on similarities and differences of those of rest of the world mentioned in recent blog articles, following Vol.46 – 2011 Trend of Social Media: Worldwide and Japan (Part 2).
7. Privacy and guideline are trend worldwide, and Japan may start to follow this trend
8. Geo-location for geo-marketing is a trend worldwide, Japan may follow this trend
Geo-location became a hot topic in 2010 with recent announcements and launches of geo-location functions from some companies, and this is a predicted trend for 2011 worldwide as well; however, it may take time for geo-location to attract attention from online marketers and spread in Japan. This may attribute party to language and other issues.
Having said that, web services and contents that are likely to benefit greatly from geo-location such as Groupon http://www.groupon.com/ and Gilt City http://www.giltcity.com/ have arrived and started to grow in Japan lately similarly to the western countries and therefore it is quite possible that geo-location gets hot once the “time” comes.
9. Curation/curator concept may start to be understood and spread in Japan following the west
The increase in importance of curation/curator has been mentioned in 2009 and 2010 in English sources. The concept of curation/curator in social media is still unknown in Japan; however, recently has been introduced in an article by Kumasaka (2011) and it is likely that it will be widely spread and understood by online users as the use of social media gets much more popular. It is quite logical that curation/curator would be valuable as a reliable and informative screening/filtering and interpretation role when everyone can be a publisher and not all information online can be relied on.
10 Individuals and small and mid-sized businesses can be competitive as large companies online worldwide including Japan
The fact that social media vehicles made how individuals and small and mid-sized businesses can be competitive (exposure etc.) has been often mentioned in English sources.
This trend may also come to Japan in 2011, when social media is becoming hot especially with the outbreak of Twitter and the fact that Facebook has been hot in January 2011, exposed in many media including leading business publishers and their online website. Such articles encourage organizations and people to leveraging social media in business and predict that unlike traditional media era social media era will make individuals, small and mid-sized businesses as competitive as large companies online.
11 Boundaries between web companies, media, agencies and brand diminish, worldwide including Japan
This is what can be concluded from the article by Thomas (2010) and this trend is also been seen in Japan as well.
Thomas also points out that with social media brands are now breaking their own news instead of relying on advertising or PR to disseminate their message. This is the emerging trend in Japan such as the cases of Fast Retailing http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ (known for UniQlO brand) and Wacoal http://www.wacoal.jp/. The two companies leveraged Twitter to break their own news, resulting in a great campaign success in late 2010.
With proliferation of the Internet, agencies regardless of their location etc. started web business and thus distinction between web companies and agencies have been decreasing.
12. Social media is shifting the workplace of marketing and advertising talent in the U.S. but this might not be the case in Japan
One thing that Japan may not follow the trend of the US or even if it did it would take sl many years is the shift in workplace of marketing and advertising talent. Thomas says that instead of agencies of New York City and Chicago, social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook in Silicon Valley are attracting marketing and advertising talent.
In Japan similar trend cannot yet be predicted in Japan because of the difference in business environment. First, strong marketing and advertising agencies, Japanese and foreign capital, are mostly located in Tokyo (with branch or region offices in Osaka and elsewhere), so are most Internet companies. Second, in general young Internet companies are not usually considered to be great place to work in. This may be because in Japan venture business is still not well accepted and is regarded as “cool” as in the U.S. and the social norm that a success person works for large traditional companies. Thus it is a reality that in general, except for a few exceptions such as Rakuten http://www.rakuten.co.jp/, Japanese internet companies are not still well known by majority of Japanese citizens especially conservative people and are not regarded as top class companies. Third, because of such a situation in Japan, web digital and social media marketing has not yet been established as a profession like in the west.
Therefore, if a Japanese digital marketing and advertising talent is in earnest to leverage his/her skills and expertise, it would probably be in foreign capital companies in Japan or relocate abroad, such as Silicon Valley, or start a company to create and establish digital/web/social media marketing in Japan like a few of the author’s online friends.
13. Influencers of social media different from traditional influencers have emerged in the west and Japan may follow such a trend
This has been pointed out in multiple English sources, and there have been some articles by media including Forbes introducing influencers in social media. Examples of such articles include “So many people (e.g. women, female celebrities, marketers, authors in marketing) to follow on Twitter”. Also, in English speaking countries social media seems to have become an established field and there are many English blog portals specialized in social media such as Mashable, and social media experts and bloggers. Under such a situation, charismatic bloggers of such blogs such as Brian Solis and Chris Brogan as well as charismatic marketers such as Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki are the influencers online.
Influential people on Twitter in Japan are still mostly authorities and celebrities offline, people who have been well known and influential through traditional media. However, 2011 is said to be the first year of social media for Japan and as Japan catches up with use of social media we might start to see Japanese influencers online who are not necessarily influential offline although it may take time.
References:-
Fujishiro, Hiroyuki (2011) Use of Social Media by Japanese Companies Have Come to This Stage (In Japanese)
http://www.nikkei.com/tech/business/article/g=96958A9C93819499E0E2E2E3E58DE0E2E3E0E0E2E3E2E2E2E2E2E2E2;p=9694E3EAE3E0E0E2E2EBE0E4E2E0
Jonas, Trevor (2010) 5 Predictions for Social Media in 2011
http://socialmediatoday.com/trevorjonas/253235/5-predictions-social-media-2011?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29&utm_content=Twitter
Kumasaka, Hitomi (2011) 30 Social Media Predictions! What Aspects of the Internet Will Facebook Change? (In Japanese)
http://diamond.jp/articles/-/10677
Thomas, Jesse (2010) 6 Predictions for Digital Advertising in 2011
http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/advertising-industry/
7. Privacy and guideline are trend worldwide, and Japan may start to follow this trend
Privacy and guideline issues have been hot in 2009 and 2010 in English sources and this is expected to be a trend in 2011, but no yet in Japan
8. Geo-location for geo-marketing is a trend worldwide, Japan may follow this trend
Geo-location became a hot topic in 2010 with recent announcements and launches of geo-location functions from some companies, and this is a predicted trend for 2011 worldwide as well; however, it may take time for geo-location to attract attention from online marketers and spread in Japan. This may attribute party to language and other issues.
Having said that, web services and contents that are likely to benefit greatly from geo-location such as Groupon http://www.groupon.com/ and Gilt City http://www.giltcity.com/ have arrived and started to grow in Japan lately similarly to the western countries and therefore it is quite possible that geo-location gets hot once the “time” comes.
9. Curation/curator concept may start to be understood and spread in Japan following the west
The increase in importance of curation/curator has been mentioned in 2009 and 2010 in English sources. The concept of curation/curator in social media is still unknown in Japan; however, recently has been introduced in an article by Kumasaka (2011) and it is likely that it will be widely spread and understood by online users as the use of social media gets much more popular. It is quite logical that curation/curator would be valuable as a reliable and informative screening/filtering and interpretation role when everyone can be a publisher and not all information online can be relied on.
10 Individuals and small and mid-sized businesses can be competitive as large companies online worldwide including Japan
The fact that social media vehicles made how individuals and small and mid-sized businesses can be competitive (exposure etc.) has been often mentioned in English sources.
This trend may also come to Japan in 2011, when social media is becoming hot especially with the outbreak of Twitter and the fact that Facebook has been hot in January 2011, exposed in many media including leading business publishers and their online website. Such articles encourage organizations and people to leveraging social media in business and predict that unlike traditional media era social media era will make individuals, small and mid-sized businesses as competitive as large companies online.
11 Boundaries between web companies, media, agencies and brand diminish, worldwide including Japan
This is what can be concluded from the article by Thomas (2010) and this trend is also been seen in Japan as well.
Thomas also points out that with social media brands are now breaking their own news instead of relying on advertising or PR to disseminate their message. This is the emerging trend in Japan such as the cases of Fast Retailing http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ (known for UniQlO brand) and Wacoal http://www.wacoal.jp/. The two companies leveraged Twitter to break their own news, resulting in a great campaign success in late 2010.
With proliferation of the Internet, agencies regardless of their location etc. started web business and thus distinction between web companies and agencies have been decreasing.
12. Social media is shifting the workplace of marketing and advertising talent in the U.S. but this might not be the case in Japan
One thing that Japan may not follow the trend of the US or even if it did it would take sl many years is the shift in workplace of marketing and advertising talent. Thomas says that instead of agencies of New York City and Chicago, social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook in Silicon Valley are attracting marketing and advertising talent.
In Japan similar trend cannot yet be predicted in Japan because of the difference in business environment. First, strong marketing and advertising agencies, Japanese and foreign capital, are mostly located in Tokyo (with branch or region offices in Osaka and elsewhere), so are most Internet companies. Second, in general young Internet companies are not usually considered to be great place to work in. This may be because in Japan venture business is still not well accepted and is regarded as “cool” as in the U.S. and the social norm that a success person works for large traditional companies. Thus it is a reality that in general, except for a few exceptions such as Rakuten http://www.rakuten.co.jp/, Japanese internet companies are not still well known by majority of Japanese citizens especially conservative people and are not regarded as top class companies. Third, because of such a situation in Japan, web digital and social media marketing has not yet been established as a profession like in the west.
Therefore, if a Japanese digital marketing and advertising talent is in earnest to leverage his/her skills and expertise, it would probably be in foreign capital companies in Japan or relocate abroad, such as Silicon Valley, or start a company to create and establish digital/web/social media marketing in Japan like a few of the author’s online friends.
13. Influencers of social media different from traditional influencers have emerged in the west and Japan may follow such a trend
This has been pointed out in multiple English sources, and there have been some articles by media including Forbes introducing influencers in social media. Examples of such articles include “So many people (e.g. women, female celebrities, marketers, authors in marketing) to follow on Twitter”. Also, in English speaking countries social media seems to have become an established field and there are many English blog portals specialized in social media such as Mashable, and social media experts and bloggers. Under such a situation, charismatic bloggers of such blogs such as Brian Solis and Chris Brogan as well as charismatic marketers such as Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki are the influencers online.
Influential people on Twitter in Japan are still mostly authorities and celebrities offline, people who have been well known and influential through traditional media. However, 2011 is said to be the first year of social media for Japan and as Japan catches up with use of social media we might start to see Japanese influencers online who are not necessarily influential offline although it may take time.
References:-
Fujishiro, Hiroyuki (2011) Use of Social Media by Japanese Companies Have Come to This Stage (In Japanese)
http://www.nikkei.com/tech/business/article/g=96958A9C93819499E0E2E2E3E58DE0E2E3E0E0E2E3E2E2E2E2E2E2E2;p=9694E3EAE3E0E0E2E2EBE0E4E2E0
Jonas, Trevor (2010) 5 Predictions for Social Media in 2011
http://socialmediatoday.com/trevorjonas/253235/5-predictions-social-media-2011?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29&utm_content=Twitter
Kumasaka, Hitomi (2011) 30 Social Media Predictions! What Aspects of the Internet Will Facebook Change? (In Japanese)
http://diamond.jp/articles/-/10677
Thomas, Jesse (2010) 6 Predictions for Digital Advertising in 2011
http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/advertising-industry/
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