In Japan, Facebook Fails While Avatars and Anonymity Rule -- Cultural Outlier or Shape of the Internet to Come?

What you're looking at here are avatars from Gree, which in Japan is the country's largest social network, with 22.5 million registered users -- far larger than Facebook is in Japan, which has just a paltry two million users in that country. As the New York Times explains in a very interesting article today, Japan has simply refused to embrace Facebook so far, preferring social networks with anonymous usernames and virtual world-type avatars. Gree, the Times reports, is "a popular game platform for mobile phones that offers free games, which users play with manga-style avatars". Almost as large as Gree is Mobage-town, "which has almost 21.7 million users, offers a similar combination of avatars, games and accessories. It also lets users earn virtual gaming money by clicking on advertisers’ Web sites."

With over 44 million total users, Gree and Mobage-town are used by nearly a third of Japan's entire population of 127 million. (Or assuming overlap, a smaller but still impressive share.) Mixi, the large Japanese social network most similar to Facebook, still insists on anonymous usernames. NYT: "Mixi has grown by letting users sign up with pseudonyms, and gives its subscribers fine-tune controls over who sees posts and other uploads." So in complete opposition to Facebook's global dominance, avatars and anonymity rule in Japan. (“The Internet in Japan has not been so closely connected with real society,” a Japanese Facebook rep tells the Times, perhaps frustrated by that fact.)

This is a significant data point for the future development of games and virtual worlds:

With the thunderous growth of Facebook, most Western developers assume that Facebook integration is an important and necessary feature in their games and worlds. This sense is strengthen by the realization that anonymous avatars, which are very popular with kid-centric worlds like Habbo and Gaia Online, lose their appeal for most kids as they reach 18-24. However, the exact opposite happens in Japan, which is an exception to the larger trend.

But what an exception - in terms of broadband penetration, smartphone innovation, and a number of other variables, Japan is the undisputed leader in high-tech culture, and the rest of the world are stragglers. So the question becomes, will Japan finally give in to the Facebook tsunami, or will the world gradually shift to be more like Japan?

We're probably about to find out soon: DeNA, the company that owns Mobage-town, recently purchased US iPhone game developer ngmoco for an incredible $400 million. I would not be surprised if a Westernized version of the Mobage-town social network comes to iPhone users soon.

Comments

[Jovin]

Very interesting - and my already significant interest and liking of Japanese culture just soared even higher... Death to Fleecebook!

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

US Millennials could not be further from what you are describing: they extend who they are IRL. It's one reason why FB is currently so big here.

But the US is different from other nations in many ways, not all of them healthy or even sane.

[Hitomi Tiponi]

Reality and fantasy are less clear cut in many eastern cultures. Anime/manga isn't so much entertainment as an experience, and that continues into SL - for many westerners SL is just entertainment.

[Little Lost Linden]

"Very interesting - and my already significant interest and liking of Japanese culture just soared even higher... Death to Fleecebook!"

Agreed. Facebook needs to go the way of Myspace, much sooner than later.

oh, and chicken teriyaki served at most sushi restaurants is very good.

[Laetizia Coronet]

"most Western developers assume that Facebook integration is an important and necessary feature in their games and worlds."

I am more surprised at that than at what they do in Japan. Facebook is old hat. Developers should know better.

[Mera Kranfel / Vesper Kling]

I totally agree. To be open about your real life identity on the internet can be very dangerous. No one is running around the streets with you real name name, social security nr and phone nr above your head are u? No I didnt thinks so....

Anonymity is the future, Facebook is not. "Big Brother" sees you. =)

[An Anonymous Japanese]

One of the reason is, they should be, at least pretend to be, 'dedicated' employees or students. Once they are found by someone co-worker, boss, classmate or teacher, they will be considered to be lazy, double-faced person - no matter how thier activity is cool. In the worst case, they will lose their positions in their environment (And once it occurs, it would be very hard to find the 'next' especially in Japan).

Indeed, there are a few exceptions. One is the univercity or college students. Strange as it may sound, but they are, 'expected' to be 'having fun'  before starting job searching. Second, retired people, of cource they are no longer to be desired to be dedicated in the company. Some stay-at-home people might be able to reveal their reallife, but they are expected to be dedicated mom or dad, so many hide their reallife.

As for me, I have my page in facebook with my real name and age, but I can't write anymore about my real life. I used to use Mixi, which has 'real name' on the page, but I filled fake name in it, and as far as I saw, 50% of my friends have been doing so.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Internet pseudonymity allows anybody to contribute to the community of ideas without fear of being pigeonholed due to their age, race, gender, nationality, appearance, wealth or academic credentials.

Of course this is threatening at a level below rational consciousness to an ivy-league elitist like Zuckerberg, coming from an environment where who you know is vastly more important than what you know. He may wear hacker threads, but his blood is establishment blue.

If the Japanese have an alternative to the oppressive intrusiveness of Facebook, here's hoping it succeeds in spectacular fashion.

[c3]

less we forget. the 90% plus usage numbers of korean mobile vr "gameworld" CYWORLD.
and the spectacular failure of it to gain any users/usage in the US...as the next big thing --- cyworld usa

oh so long ago....lol . like 2007.

[Little Lost Linden]

I so wish this could happen to Facebook like...NOW!

http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229000309

Facebook, go away!