Japan’s online social scene isn’t so social
From Zichi at Artosphere:
Welcome to Japan’s online social scene, where you’re unlikely to meet anyone you don’t know already. The early promises of a new, open social frontier, akin to the identity-centric world of Facebook and MySpace in the U.S., have been replaced by a realm where people stay safely within their circles of friends and few reveal themselves to strangers.
“There is the sense that, `My face just isn’t that interesting, or I’m not attractive _ there is nothing special about me to show people,’” says Tetsuya Shibui, a writer who has long followed the Internet in Japan.
Indeed, the Japanese virtual world has turned out just like the real one.
This is 180 degrees difference from places like Facebook and MySpace where not revealing anything about yourself is definitely frowned upon.
Check out the rest of this fascinating article.
(more Japan’s online social scene isn’t so social…)
