Japanese People Like Privacy So Facebook Will Always Be an Also-Ran

As I wrote long ago, I seriously doubt Facebook can surpass Mixi or Gree in Japan. The Japanese like their privacy and Facebook doesn't address these concerns nearly enough. 


I suspect that if Facebook cannot dethroned either, it will be a failure in this country.


Actually, with how much of a problem hacking and stealing identities is these days, I am amazed at just how many people in the west put up so much personal information on Facebook.

Once again, I have found a recent article that supports my beliefs about Facebook not becoming number one in Japan and how the can't do so as the cultural differences are too great.


Let's face it, Mixi and Gree were made in Japan, they completely understand the Japanese psyche. Facebook doesn't. Also, one of Facebook's biggest sales points is that it let's you connect with people overseas. That is not a big point of appeal to the Japanese. 


Bloomberg reports:

Facebook Inc. may not overtake Mixi Inc. in Japan as the lure of connecting with friends overseas isn’t enough for users to switch services, according to the U.S. social-networking site’s biggest games developer.

Japan “is one place where Facebook may not end up being dominant,” Robert Goldberg, head of Zynga Game Network Inc.’s operations in the country, said in an interview in Tokyo. 

According to Nikkeisha research, only 3% of the Japanese public can converse in English. This is a huge reason why reconnecting with people in foreign countries doesn't really appeal to the Japanese; they can't communicate.

I think it is possible that Facebook could actually be a failure in Japan much like Pepsi-cola or Universal Studios. The article continues:

Mixi is better suited for Japanese users because it gives subscribers more control over who sees their content and personal data is more secure, President Kenji Kasahara said in an interview on Dec. 15. Users can also send Twitter-like messages limited to 150 characters, a service that began in September 2009 and isn’t available on Facebook, Kasahara said at the time.

Masashi Tokuda, a Tokyo-based spokesman at Mixi, said the company’s stance hasn’t changed since Kasahara made the comments.

Shares of Mixi declined 5.6 percent to 428,500 yen as of 1:25 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, compared with a 0.7 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average. Zynga is a closely held company.

Mixi’s monthly active users, subscribers who log in at least once a month, have reached 14.5 million as of Dec. 31, the Tokyo-based company said earlier this month. That compares with Facebook’s more than 500 million users worldwide and 24.5 million for DeNA Co., Japan’s biggest developer of social games for mobile phones.

"Japan is a unique marketplace and it is necessary to take care when bringing a global product and localizing it to the Japanese culture."

Mixi and Gree allow people to use pen-names and to hide their true identities. This is important to the Japanese. 

Facebook isn't going to change 2,700 years of culture in five years. It's crazy to think that they could. Facebook doesn't protect people's privacy enough and, recently, there has been lots of junk mail and people's account's being hijacked to send junk mail out.

Like I said, they might fail here. Many big guns have in the past failed. Of the companies successful in the west that have failed in the Japanese market, the list is long; Pepsi, Universal Studio Theme Park, eBay, Vodaphone, Carrefour, Burger King and many more. The most surprising thing about this list is that, even after the failures of big players with multi-million dollar budgets, the list grows longer everyday. 

Will it include Facebook someday?

The companies who failed in Japan, failed because they couldn't comprehend just how different Japan is from the west. On the other hand, the companies who succeeded like; Disney, Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, Yahoo and Amazon, all hired Japanese companies to handle their product/service PR for the Japanese market. 

Facebook blew it at the start in Japan by not correctly localizing their service and they also lost 2 years by not having their service ready for cell phones. This allowed Mixi and Gree to completely capture the youth market.

I think you would hard-pressed to find a high school kid in Japan who uses Facebook... I know a few college kids who do (they all speak English).

Don't even get me started on Twitter

I have a Facebook account too. I am thinking about quitting it. But I haven't. Why? I connect with many foreign musicians through Facebook. It is useful for that. Facebook is great for foreigners. But for connecting to the Japanese? No. Don't need Facebook.

I certainly do not put any personal information on my Facebook account. I don't even have my correct birth date on it. I'd recommend that you eliminate all personal information on yours too.

So, like I said, I have been serious about quitting Facebook recently. Any readers in Japan who feel the same way?


This from Eye on Miami:


HERE IS FACEBOOK'S CURRENT POLICY ON USER CONTENT...LOOK AT LAST LINE: IT BASICALLY SAYS "PERMANENT RECORD!"

"By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content." 

Here's a great, humorous article entitled, "Facebook Sucks" that spells out the dangers of too much information and about not being cautious on Social Media.

Comment Guidelines: Comments should be succinct, constructive and relevant to the story. We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary. Comments that include personal attacks, racial, religious, or ethnic slurs are not permitted. We continuously review and remove any inappropriate comments. 

In Japan, Facebook is Second-Rate

The big Social Networking site in Japan is called Mixi. Don't bother trying to join it, you'll need to be invited by a current member in order to get in.

I know of a few people who do Facebook in Japan. I'd have to say that, amongst the people I know, that the ratio of Facbook users versus Mixi users is about 10 to 1 in favor of Mixi.

The Japanese people like things that allow them to have their own "clubs" Mixi is much better suited for that than Facebook is. Also Mixi allows people to use pen names. That is a critical issue in Mixi's success in Japan; Japanese people are much more strict about their privacy and do not like to tell the world who they are and where they live.

Mixi fits the bill for the Japanese.

The Japan Times confirms this:

"Facebook's service emphasizes connection to users overseas, stresses openness over privacy and doesn't reflect regional characteristics," Kasahara, 35, whose stake in the company is worth almost $500 million, said in a recent interview in Tokyo. "Our users value a social space that is like a living room — private, comfortable and personal."

Mixi, whose shares have tumbled 39 percent this year, is adding games and expanding into smart phones to revive earnings after profits fell for three of the past four quarters. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in July his company is focusing on expansion in Japan and Russia this year, increasing the pressure on the Japanese company to introduce new features to protect its lead.

Mixi, which began social network operations in 2004, has fallen 71 percent since its initial public offering in 2006. The company competes against Gree Inc. and News Corp.'s MySpace.

Closely held Facebook introduced simpler privacy controls in May and said it was reducing the amount of user information that is publicly available after lawmakers and advocacy groups complained that the service shares too much personal data.

Mixi gives its 22 million subscribers more fine-grain controls over who sees their content, such as allowing the users to disclose information to individual friends, Kasahara said.

Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw didn't immediately respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.

Facebook is also not convenient to use on cellphones in Japan. When you consider the problems with privacy and that 90% of all cellphone users in Japan do not have a computer at home, then you can see where Facebook has big problems in Japan.... Not to mention that their "Spokesman" is too busy to answer a phone call or his e-mail for a comment from one of the oldest and most famous newspapers in Japan.

Hello Facebook? Yeah, what's the purpose of having a "Spokesman" that doesn't answer his email or phone calls? I reckon this is indicative of why your business hasn't really taken off here amongst the Japanese. Hire a new spokesman... Preferably one who speaks Japanese and understands the customs and business manners of Japan.