Myspace in Japan

The social networking giant, MySpace.com, has commanded the attention of over 150 million Americans since its birth in July of 2003. Despite still being in its infancy, the Santa Monica-based Corporation boasts being ranked as the third most popular website in all of the United States, and standing as the sixth most popular website in any language (Wikipedia, 2007). BusinessWeek featured an article centered around MySpace on February 16, 2007 titled MySpace faces stiff competition in Japan. The article announces MySpace’s entry into the Japanese Internet social networking market. There are however, as the title suggests, several barriers to an effortless entry into the potentially valuable Japanese market.

With the extension of their domestic services abroad, MySpace faces the massive threat of Japan’s top social networking site, the “8-million-strong” Mixi. Mixi provides a platform for “peaceful communication” that caters to the Japanese collectivist tradition whereby one’s group identity defines the individual. Mixi is an invitation-only service, which means registration requires an introduction from someone who is already a Mixi member. Such in-group tactics mirror the “cliquish” Japanese culture. While “Japanese tend to be more reserved and prefer to gradually get to know each other,” the character of the American-based MySpace is much more in-your-face. With flashy text and a bombardment of pictures, videos, and messages, MySpace seems the polar opposite of the “prim, organized columns and stamp-size photos” of their Japanese counterpart. Tony Elison, senior vice president at Viacom International Japan, states “MySpace is about me, me, me, and look at me look at me look at me,” which caters nicely to the highly individualistic culture within America. After polling one MySpace user and Bryant University student, the three adjectives she used to describe MySpace were “1) Creepy, 2) Informational, and 3) Stalkerish.” As the adjectives imply, contrary to the highly protective, closely knit community of Mixi, MySpace allows an unlimited number of people to register, and allows all users to view the profiles of others, a system which for some is lacking in the privacy department.

Two websites, both offer social networking services, yet each approaches this end through vastly different means. MySpace believes it has a chance for success in Japan “because of its 50-50 partnership with Japanese Internet Company Softbank Corporation.” Success in MySpace’s overseas expansion lies in breaking a chip off the Japanese market which is currently extremely loyal to Mixi.

Herein lies the main problem for MySpace; will they be capable of gaining market share in a nation of strangers? How will they serve the customer when they don’t know the customer? The root cause behind this dilemma lies in the cultural clash between the individualistic American culture and the highly collectivistic Japanese culture. Figure one below displays a direct comparison between the United States and Japan using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. The dimension with the most relevance with respect to MySpace is individualism (labeled IDV on the graph). The United States exhibits an index of 91. When compared to the index of Japan at 46, the cultural clash becomes apparent. The high individualism ranking for the United States indicates a society with a more individualistic attitude and relatively loose bonds with others. The populace is more self-reliant and looks out for themselves and their close family members (Hofstede U.S., 2003).

Figure One:

Source: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=95&culture2=50#compare

In collectivist societies such as Japan, from birth onwards people are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, including extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty (Hofstede Japan, 2003). Although the sociological language can be daunting, the cultural differences are apparent. These differences stand as reasoning for the nearly polar opposite appearance and regulation of the Mixi and MySpace webpages.

The solution to MySpace’s dilemma can only come through a careful consideration of Japanese culture. MySpace needs a fundamental understanding of the importance of in-group identity and connection, and plan to restructure its Japanese version around this cultural value system. Michiko Yoshida, who studies social networking at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo argues “MySpace’s emphasis on self-assertion will have only niche appeal in Japan.” Unless MySpace alters their individualistic exterior, they will have no chance of gaining Japanese market share. MySpace plans to tackle