SNS (Social Networking Sites) in Japan
Social Networking Sites present a great way to promote a company, or your own domain in Japan. Far, far above all in Japan there is Mixi to rule them all. However, countless other, niche SNS sites are scattered all over the Japanese web. Although their membership does not rival Mixi’s, their niche target makes them very attractive to certain companies.
SNS (Social Networking Sites) are extremely popular in Japan. Online marketers are just staring to wrap their heads around them to see how they can influence the audience. This means that the field of SNS marketing in Japan is rather a domain of smaller site owners trying to promote their domain rather than larger companies trying to influence people en masse. This is because today’s online marketer’s simply do not understand the workings of an SNS community. They are used to executing their campaigns in a ‘copy and paste’ sort of fashion. On SNS, this does not work. You must join the conversation.
Do not even attempt SNS marketing in Japan if you do not understand the community you are joining. People will see you though fast enough.
Mixi possesses communities for all over the world. They however most likely do not constitute a viable target market for most marketers.
An insightful survey of SNS users was conducted by Japan.internet.com which interviewed 1,067 members (56.3% of these surveyed were female, 1.6% were in their teens, 20.8% in their twenties, 43.2% intheirthirties, 21.4% in their forties, 9.1% in their fifties, and 3.9% in their sixties) sheds some light on the SNS world in Japan.
Q1: Are you using a Social Networking Service (SNS)? (Sample size=1,067)
Currently using one (to Q2 and Q3) 19.3%
Used to use one, but now I don’t 5.3%
Never used one 44.7%
Don’t know what an SNS is 30.6%
Of the 206 people who used SNS sites, (19.3%,of the total sample) 73.3% were members of just one, and18.4% participated in two.
Q2: About how frequently do you log in to an SNS? (Sample size=206)
Once a day or more 51.0%
Once every two or three days 25.7%
Once a week 12.1%
Once a month 5.8%
Less than once per month 6.3%
Q3: What are your objectives in using an SNS? (Sample size=206, multiple answer)
Votes Percentage
Communicate with friends and family 137 66.5%
Find people with the same hobbies 85 41.3%
Gather information 81 39.3%
No particular reason or just to fill idle moments 78 37.9%
To publish my own diary or photos 70 34.0%
Business reasons 8 3.9%
Other 3 1.5%
It is possible to create your own SNS site for free at nanoty.jp. This site records some 2000+ SNS sitesbeing created on it per month. The overwhelming share of those are aimed at small groups, families andalumni.
Mixi has over 2 billion page views per month and over 3 million users. According to NetRankings this represents 2.5% of all page views by Japanese online users – good enough to place the site as the top #3 in Japan.
