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By Reiko Sakabe
Where there’s cultural diversity, there’s a diversity of social networking services
John Guare’s 1990 play popularized the notion of six degrees of separation. Essentially, the theory hypothesizes that if a person is one step away from each person he knows, and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people he knows, then everyone is an average of six “steps” away from any person on Earth.
In January 2008, Japan’s biggest social networking service mixi set out to prove this theory. It selected 1,000 users at random and investigated their relationships as entered on mixi. It found that, on average, all users were in fact connected to each other in six steps. This experiment proves that social networking is making an already small world even smaller.
But what draws users to a social network in one country might not work in another. This has been the case across Asia, where a variety of social networks are thriving as they meet the needs of specific cultures.
Different Networks for Different Markets
When you first hear the term “social network,” it’s likely that MySpace and Facebook immediately come to mind. But in Asia, these networks have a hard time competing with some of the homegrown services. Even though they do offer localized versions, they were introduced in Asia too late, when other services had already grabbed most of the market.
One such service is mixi, Japan’s most popular social network. While it grabbed a majority of the market in Japan before MySpace and Facebook could release local offerings, it is also favored in Japan because it has a full understanding of Japan’s unique culture, such as the tendency to favor security, privacy and anonymity; and mixi tailors its features to those needs while foreign services do not.
Another example of a service understanding a local culture is South Korea’s Cyworld. In Cyworld, friends are referred to as “il-chon,” which is a term of endearment so strong that it indicates a level of closeness greater than that between a parent and child. This notion of kinship plays into South Korean culture. In fact, Cyworld has more than 20 million registered members, which is more than a third of the Korean population and a per capita penetration greater than that of MySpace in the United States. However, Cyworld requires that users pay money to update their pages with the latest applications and therefore lost some members when free services like MySpace and Facebook were introduced in the country. Cyworld itself has launched versions in other countries, including China, the United States and Germany, which have not taken off. This illustrates again that what works in one country might not work in another.
In China, the most popular social networking service is Kaxin001.com. “Kaixin” means happy, and that is what this site aims to make its members. The network focuses on fun game-style applications, discussions of hot topics, and finding new friends and social interests. Kaxin001.com also offers users business networking opportunities within specific industries. In order to keep users engaged, some sites require members to earn points or “virtual money” by clocking online time or encouraging friend referrals. Kaxin001.com takes a lighter approach by offering a variety of games for users to play in order to earn points. This entertainment-focused style has resonated in China.
Finding a Niche
Even though there are established social networking leaders in most countries, that doesn’t stop an array of new services from coming to market hoping to attract a niche group of members. For example, Japanese users of mixi with friends in other countries tend to use Facebook and MySpace to keep in touch with friends outside of Japan. And artists in Japan especially enjoy MySpace, as it offers a number of features that appeal to that community.
Another popular site that targets a niche audience is Taiwan’s I-apartment. On the site, members can search for partners with whom to “live” and tackle other virtual activities as a couple such as raising pets or growing flowers. Also in Taiwan, the service PTT has grown into a subculture phenomenon, providing a place for hot gossip and “insider” slang terms.
These niche sites and their mainstream counterparts offer great marketing opportunities for companies, as they can reach highly targeted and localized audiences. However, they also open up unique challenges for PR and marketing teams, as they enable the viral spread of feedback, which might sometimes be negative. But whether positive or negative, public feedback is precious and should be taken seriously by companies.
PR and Marketing Via Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites can provide both opportunities and challenges for professional communicators. What’s clear is that corporate PR and marketing pros can’t ignore these online services – They need to monitor them regularly to gauge public opinion of the company they represent and then use them to participate in the public conversation. For example, many employees of Hoffman China have joined the China Computer Media Group on Kaxin001.com to stay abreast of popular industry topics and what their media contacts are following.
Some social networking sites today are even encroaching on the world of traditional journalism, as stories can be posted online and shared virally via these services. Companies or “fans” of these companies can even create groups that social networking participants can join to share information and receive updates on the company. This is another great way for companies to tap into a very specific audience and increase loyalty. The Hoffman Hong Kong and Korea teams took advantage of this when launching iGoogle and Google Maps in these countries by conducting outreach to members of Google programmer forums and Google enthusiast sites.
With social networking sites making it easier than ever for connected individuals to communicate and spread opinions, marketers and PR pros need to figure out ways to use these new tools in smart and effective ways. What’s clear is that in Asia in particular, these communicators will need to take a very targeted and specialized approach, ensuring that they use tactics that complement the unique social and cultural nuances of each country and each social network.
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