Korean SNS Part II: Cyworld is Good For…

In part one of our introduction to Korean SNS, we talked about Facebook versus Cyworld, and noted that Facebook is more popular than Cyworld. But since Cyworld does have the most number of users throughout Korea, there are a few things that Cyworld is good for, so what are they?

Well, Cyworld is often used as a blind dating source amongst Koreans. As mentioned before, only Koreans are allowed to use the site – you need to have a Korean citizens’ ID in order to create an account – which means when it comes to dating in Korea, it’s more widely used than Facebook. Facebook is seen more as a place to connect and contact friends, whether they’re within Korea or spread out across the globe.

Secondly, the ease of use as well as services & features available on Cyworld makes it very attractive to Korean users. The ease of uploading photos and video from their cellphones is a plus as it is simple, fast and convenient. Similar to Facebook, friends on Cyworld are able to leave comments about the photos/videos. However, while Facebook allows users of certain smart phones (ie Blackberry, iPhone, Android) to upload their pictures, Cyworld enables phone users to upload whenever they like, irregardless of the type of phone you use, provided it can connect to the internet.

Lastly, Cyworld allows you to measure your “popularity” by tracking how many people have visited your page. To get more people to visit your Cyworld page, you will need to do it up so that people will visit it and also, use the services and features available that will create more traffic to your site. Imagine if you are a

So even though Cyworld may seem to be out of the window and replaced by Facebook, it’s still worth it to keep an eye on this SNS for some specific functions and groups. Especially when you want to maximize on the Korean “blind dates” or use it as a channel to specifically target Korean clients.

 
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