Facebook is now available in Japanese, CEO Zuckerberg says in Tokyo

Facebook's CEO Marc Zuckerberg personally traveled to Tokyo to announce the launch of the Japanese version of his super-successful social network. Actually he came for just a day (on May 20th), gave a few interviews telling why Japanese people should join Facebook and left.



It goes without saying this is not the way to go in this country. Just translating Facebook into Japanese (by over 1,300 native speakers) will not help much as well.

Difficult environment for Facebook
I have put together some reasons Facebook will have a hard time gaining a siginificant market share in Japan here. Fellow blogger Takuya Homma adds a few thoughts, most importantly the need of a kick-ass mobile version of a Facebook Japan. This is totally correct, given the fact that the number of users of Japan's largest SNS Mixi accessing the site via their cell phones exceeds 50%. Moreover, a lot of their members use the site as a blogging platform.

Zuckerberg also said in one statement Facebook is known for its safety since people are using their real names. Well, first of all this is not necessarily true. Everybody and his brother can set up a Facebook profile using any name. Secondly, the majority of Japanese users of social networks would HATE to reveal their identity and post photos of themselves online. Just look at Mixi: How many members demonstrate this behavior there? Almost no one...

So in my view Facebook faces a very, very hard time on the Japanese market. At least Zuckerberg came the long way from the USA to show his face - he didn't travel to my home country Germany when Facebook launched the German version a few weeks ago...

Update:
Lisa Katayama (a US-based writer and journalist) wrote an excellent article on Facebook Japan, which can be found here.

Japanese company releases new tool for use in Second Life

I personally believe the basic concept behind the idea of Second Life (the existence of "virtual worlds" in 3D populated by avatars) will be here to stay in the web world forever.

In Japan, people took a liking to Second Life particularly after Linden Lab decided to translate the site into Japanese last year. In November, major TV network Nihon TV broadcasted the world's first show recorded in the virtual world (as reported). And the show is still on.

Japanese company offers Second Life services
There are quite a few companies which exist only because there is Second Life. MagSL (Magazine Second Life) for example is a Tokyo-based provider for various services related to Second Life. The company offers auction tools, construction, advertising and other services tailored for that virtual world.

Since late February, MagSL added an ASP solution to analyze behavior of avatars in 3D environment to their product range. In the corresponding press release, the company says it distinguishes user behavior on 2D web pages from the way people act in 3D worlds. According to MagSL, this difference justifies specialized behavior analysis software. Well, that makes sense.

MagSL is (naturally) marketing their new product as a pure B2B solution. Companies represented in Second Life can use the software to find out how avatars in Second Life react to their Marketing efforts, i. e. to promoting events.

I think more and more software focused on "virtual worlds" on the web will be released in the future. And interestingly, Japanese companies in particular seem to be pioneering this field.

Sony is soon offering "Playstation Home" for their Playstation 3 video game system while Japanese web powerhouse Transcosmos views its self-developed virtual world "meet-me" as a potential Second Life-Killer.

Mixi goes berserk

Japan's biggest social network and blogging platform Mixi (boasting a user network of over 13 million people, my review) caused a huge stir some days ago when it announced a shocking move. The company of the same name plans to take away all content to be found on its website from its users. Who is the beneficiary? Mixi itself!

Effective April 1st, Mixi members will have to comply with completely revamped Terms of Use.

In detail, the measure includes the following consequences:
- there is no compensation for users in any form
- the measure will be implemented with retrospective effect, meaning all content generated by users before April 1st, 2008 will also become property of Mixi (!)
- Mixi takes full control of all contents (the users lose all rights)
- the measure involves content such as blog articles, comments, BBS postings and even private messages sent within the Mixi system (!)
- not only textual content is affected, but also pictures and images
- all contents can be modified, distributed, sold and translated by Mixi

In addition, members remain legally responsible for any content generated on the platform!

Outcry in the Japanese public
This audacious move is probably unparalleled in the web world anywhere and demonstrates totalitarian tendencies. As Mixi is not only Japan's biggest SN but also a wildly popular blog platform, it is no exaggeration to say it became almost a part of life of many Japanese people. Consequently, Mixi aims at exploiting a huge treasure trove full of content!

Japanese bloggers and media have identified one major motive for Mixi's announcement which is -of course- money. As Mixi is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company is obviously under pressure to improve financial numbers, the level of monetization and growth. This also explains Mixi's recent decision to expand into China which will most likely fail (as did Cyworld's try to tap the European market from Korea this week).

As a reaction to the flood of complaints, Mixi already announced it considers revising the original plan to change the Terms of Use. If they push through their announcement, I will delete my account even though I am not really a hard user of the service.

In the light of this, Facebook's botched Beacon initiative is dwarfed in terms of arrogance. One can only hope that no other social network will have the guts to treat member data, sensitive information and user-generated content in such a ludicrous manner.

Note:
This posting is a modified version of a guest article I wrote for German web industry blog zweinull. You can read my article here.

Can Facebook make it in Japan? Pros and Cons

Facebook has flaws. Some management decisions are sometimes debatable to say the least. And yes, some requests get can get on your nerves. But in my view, Facebook is still the best place to connect with people. Much better than Friendster, Bebo, MySpace etc.

No Facebook Japan yet
Update: Facebook Japan launched (May 20th, 2008), see my post.
As of now, Facebook does not offer a Japanese version. But it seems that the company finally makes some serious moves towards internationalization. This month, my fellow Germans Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer have invested in Facebook, supposedly to prepare the entry into Europe. In November last year, famous Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing decided the service is worthy enough to shell out 60 million USD of his pocket money to them (he is Asia's richest man).



So a "Facebook Japan" might come closer even though it is undecided yet when this will become a reality.

MySpace offers a Japanese version now. Friendster followed in December. Both sites offer no incentives for many Japanese people to join however. I am sure most "ordinary" Japanese people never even heard of these services.

The same is true for Facebook.

The Japanese don't really care much about other SN than Mixi. As regular readers of this blog know by now, Mixi rules the Japanese SN market (my Mixi review). Mixi is supposed to have a user base of 12 million people.

Can Facebook emulate this tremendous success? Time to think about some pros and cons.

Pros:
1)
Japanese people love innovations and Facebook will be new to a LOT of users over here.

2)
Compared to domestic products, foreign goods and services are often viewed as cooler, more exotic and desirable. This is especially true for consumer goods but may be a plus in the Web world as well.

3)
Facebook is totally different from Mixi and would be quite unique in this country's Internet market. In my view Facebook is actually "better"/more useful than Mixi. Especially some of the applications are quite cool.

4)
More and more Japanese people have international friends they would like to be connected with. A Japanese version of Facebook might overcome the language barrier in online networking (Mixi is only available in Japanese).

Cons:
1)
Facebook is too late. They are late-comers yet super-successful competitors to MySpace and other services in the US and internationally. But WITHIN Japan, we have a "the winner takes it all" situation in my opinion. The cake is baked and Mixi took the largest bite already.

2)
The Japanese are the most quality conscious people in the world. Users here would not forgive any mistakes. Especially security/privacy problems are serious issues in this country. I am not sure if Japanese people would trust a foreign social network service to keep their personal data safe.

3)
Facebook does not have a "Japanese identity" which would certainly help (although it would set off the "gaijin bonus factor").
Some sites like Youtube were successful in Japan BEFORE localization/translation. The reason: No Japanese company managed to push a similar product into the market in time. German Facebook clone "StudiVZ" (sold for 100 million USD last year) is much more successful than Facebook mainly because it has roots in the country's university scene. At the very least Facebook needs a physical presence in Japan (MySpace established an office in Tokyo some time ago).

4)
Facebook applications are cool but mostly in English. This will remain unchanged even if Facebook will offer a localized version of their site. Most Japanese people will not have the nerves to struggle with English menus, texts and "How-to"s. In this case, only applications written in Japanese and tailored for users over here would help.
Facebook without its thousands of applications is almost "just another social network".

Conclusion:
It will be VERY hard for Facebook to continue its success story in Japan. They are in a situation like Web giant Ebay 5 years ago when Ebay lost to Yahoo Japan's well-established auction service. The world's No.1 auction site closed their office in Tokyo after a few months.

My guess is Facebook will go for a cooperation with a Japanese player (like Ebay finally did with Yahoo Japan some weeks ago). Maybe they are on the prowl already.

The question is: Which Japanese service can that be?

Review: Japan's No. 2 social network GREE

Mixi is the quasi-standard when it comes to social network usage in Japan (read more in my Mixi-review).

Japan's second largest social network is called GREE. There is no information in English available about GREE online. That means outside Japan almost no one knows about this Web site even though MILLIONS of people are using it (mobile and Web version). So I decided it is time for a write-up to present this service to Non-Japanese speakers.



I will review GREE in the following order:
I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Model
V) Opinion

I) General Info
Gree, Inc. currently employs 74 people in its HQ in Tokyo. The name GREE is derived from a sociological concept named "Six degrees of separation".

The company published a press release last month claiming they have over 3 million users now. Impressive, but still a far cry from Mixi's userbase of well over 12 million. Both services started operations in Japan at about the same time.

GREE's president Yoshikazu Tanaka is 30 years old and founded the company in 2004 (!). Before, he was responsible for operating Rakuten's auctions operations.

Click here for a detailed statistic on details how GREE clearly trails Mixi in the Japanese SN market.

II) Starting Page
GREE's top page is rather minimalistic as you can see from the JPEG below for which I translated key items:


III) Functions and Features
GREE is an invite-only service like Mixi.

In essence, GREE offers the following functions:
- blogs
- photo albums
- video uploads
- messaging system
- forums
- reviews
etc.

What's more interesting is GREE's mobile version. The service is called "au GREE" for KDDI's carrier "au". The company invested 31 million USD in July 2006 to develop a mobile version of the Web site. Softbank and DoCoMo customers know it as "GREE mobile". Mobile GREE is "integrated" into the Web version so that PC-only users are able to interact with handset-only users if necessary.

au GREE in particular proved to be a huge success. Its user base passed one million in July 2007 (information from the latest official press release related to this number).

What's the difference between the mobile and the Web version?
For example, - besides the usual features - au Gree users can send each other html-rich emails (called "decoration-mail"), play games based on flash and get their fortunes told. Click here for screenshots.

However, there is also a mobile version of Mixi which is even more successful. No Japanese Web company would dare to offer a PC-only service!

IV) Business Model
GREE makes money in the following ways:
- advertisements
- affiliate links to online shops
- premium accounts

A GREE premium account costs 315 Yen/month (2.80 USD/1.90 Euros). Premium users get 1 GB of storage for uploading videos and pictures and unlimited Email storage. Moreover, users can keep provisions if the products they reviewed are purchased after clicking an affiliate link.

V) Opinion
GREE can keep up with Mixi as far as basic features and functions are concerned.

The huge marketing pull with which Mixi managed to conquer the Japanese SN market is the decisive reason for GREE being a distant second.

Another reason is to be seen in GREE's design and usability approach. The Web site has a business-like, rather "cold" feel to it. Not exactly like LinkedIn or Xing obviously but Mixi somehow exudes more fun and looks more casual.

GREE doesn't do anything terribly wrong but suffers from the "The winner takes it all"-law pertinent to a lot of Web 2.0 services. That is why in my opinion it will be VERY hard for GREE to enjoy a Mixi-like success in Japan in the near future.