Social Networks Around the World
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There's a lot of speculation about social networks, and predictions usually go in one of two directions:
- This is growing and soon everybody will be on one (or more than one)
- This is a fad and even the college students will tire of it eventually.
(You could also call these the "Facebook is worth $20 Billion" and "Facebook is worth nothing" factions.)
To add fuel to the debate, this week's data chart, from Chapter 2 of Groundswell looks at participation in social networks around the world.
Important caveats on this data -- while these surveys were all taken with 6 months of each other 2007, the methodologies are not the same: US is an online survey, Europe is a mail survey, and Asia is a telephone survey. In each case, the base is all online consumers, and people were asked the question "do you visit a social networking site at least monthly?" or "how frequently do you visit a social networking site?" with examples from their own country. We count only those who visit at least monthly.
That said, this variation is fascinating, to me at least.
Does Korea have the highest participation because of CyWorld, or because Koreans love to connect?
Why are Germany, and especially France, so low? Is it something about the way French people behave online, or is there an opening for a great French social network (or the French version of an existing one, like Facebook)?
Charlene says that in the future, social networks will be like air, surrounding everything. If she's right, the very nature of this question will change.
I challenge you -- will the US become like Korea, and will France become like either one? What do you think?
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Josh Bernoff, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, has risen in thirteen years to become one of America’s most frequently quoted research analysts. Josh’s analysis, which aims at a deeper understanding of people and how they use technology, has been cited by sources from The Wall St. Journal to “60 Minutes.” 
Comments
Internet-based social networking will become more mainstream than irl (in real life) socializing, I believe, within the next decade (I'm being conservative in my estimate here!).
It's interesting about South Koreans leading the way in Internet socializing. As we all know, historically within Asian cultures there is very little social physical touching, and a strong sense of personal and family privacy. I have no idea whether this is true of S. Koreans, but it would be interesting to find out. Not withstanding the decades of Western influence, could Internet socializing be a vehicle for Asians to feel comfortable opening up to friends and strangers in ways that irl socializing has historically forbidden?
As far as the French go... qui sait? Who knows? Social studies have shown the French to be very comfortable with physical touch in public, as well as in private social settings. I doubt the Internet will interfer with their irl social lives; And I say, "Good for them!"
- Posted by Cheri` Partain
June 2, 2008 12:47 PM
At the moment, the uses in a commercial sense have not yet been discovered. It is still kids simply adding more and more friends.
- Posted by GoFrostfire
June 8, 2008 6:04 AM
Perhaps all of 'us' will become like all of 'them' - so to speak - minus a few (and important) cultural differences of course.
Then again maybe not (that ambiguity/half-full half-empty thing). Just saw a news piece about a whole new movement of people adopting cowboy-style dancing (complete with steel guitars, etc.), by the French.
Gives a whole new meaning to 'WE' doesn't it? Saddle up 'dude'!
- Posted by George Bigger
June 28, 2008 5:44 PM