Social media giant Facebook, has reached over 15 million users in Japan and is ready to surpass a long time favorite, Mixi in the process. Mixi, a social network which lets users interact anonymously through a board chat has lost popularity within the Japanese culture.
“One trait those sites have in common is crucial to Japan’s fiercely private Internet users. The Japanese sites let members mask their identities, in distinct contrast to the real-name, oversharing hypothetical user on which Facebook’s business model is based.”
For some time Mixi dominated the Japanese social media world, holding 80% of the countries social media market. A drastic change might have occurred when Japan was introduced to Facebook. Facebook brought a new coming to social media in Japan that the Japanese were never accustom too before. Profile photos and real user names were some of the perks the Japanese were sold on when switching social media giants.
Kenji Shinozaki, a 19-year-old hair stylist from Shizuoka states:
"We wanted a bit more freedom and openness and Facebook offered that,"
Facebook also saw a rise in users after the Earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. Using real users names and profiles, the Japanese trusted information being bounced back and forth through the social media giant.
"People were looking for accurate information they could trust. Real-name systems like Facebook are much more suited to this," says Kametsu.