| Mark Zuckerberg |
However, despite its success connecting users from all corners of the globe, there remains one small unconquered island relatively free of Facebook. Japan. Ironically, though home to big name companies like Sony, Panasonic, and Toshiba, Japan has not caught on to Facebook. In a recent New York Times article titled "Facebook Wins Relatively Few Friends in Japan", reporter Hiroko Tabuchi explains how less than 2% of the online Japanese community uses Facebook, while the bulk of online users prefer anonymity on social networking sites. While Facebook is used by many as an extension of self, in Japan, social networking is often shrouded in anonymity, with "Web users, even popular bloggers, typically hide behind pseudonyms or nicknames."
With so much private information showcased and packaged by users on Facebook, Japanese users are often suspicious. Japanese culture, traditionally closed, is not use to the openness of Facebook. The very nature of Asian culture, collectivist and deeply concerned about 'saving face', is at odds with the open airing and self-promoting nature of Facebook. However, despite these culturally differences, Facebook is making great strides to bump up usership in Japan. Will it work?
As Facebook continues to grow, I must wonder if the social force of Facebook will be powerful enough to break a cultural force. If indeed possible, can this create a new, global culture? And if not, has the influence of Facebook been overstated?
-Eleanor
4 comments:
It is interesting how Japan's reserved culture has transcended Facebook's social revolution. I certainly hope that Facebook's campaign in Japan does not succeed. It would be sad to know that cultural diversity can be lost due to an online fad.
This reminds me of this picture I saw about a month ago (originally from this Facebook post, but I found it through another site). At the time, I was most struck by how the points in Japan and South Korea are so much less dense than those in other modernized parts of the world. I couldn't find an answer then, but this theory makes sense. Now what interests me is why there are such dense areas in some Southeast Asian countries. Maybe the culture has changed (maybe as a result of invasive foreign involvement?), or maybe it was different to begin with. I'm not sure how accurate the data used in the rendering was, but the sparseness of Japanese Facebook usage checks out.
(Also interesting but less surprising to note is the places that are completely dark. South Korea and Hong Kong look like islands.)
Thanks for sharing.
Caitlin
Well I know that in China, Facebook is censored, so that might explain some of the reason most of Asia is missing. Also, Hong Kong, though part of China, has sovereignty issues being worked out (Britain returned Hong Kong to China in the late 90's) so they still have access to Facebook.
And...we all know why North Korea is dark.
I never considered the different cultural perspectives involved in technology use.I suppose social networking is particularly affected by cultural norms, because social interactions vary widely in different parts of the world. There are probably other, related examples of differences across cultures. Good find.
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