世論 What Japan Thinks

This recent survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc looks at the giant of the Japanese Social Networking Service market, mixi.

Demographics

On the 30th of April 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in the private sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 70.6% of the sample was male, 13.0% in their twenties, 43.3% in their thirties, 33.0% in their forties, 8.8% in their fifties, and 1.5% in their sixties. Why exactly they limited the sample to only the private sector is a bit of a mystery to me, however.

Before you ask, sorry, I don’t have any invites to mixi to give to anyone. To sign up you need a Japanese mobile phone email address, but I don’t know of anyone offering a proxy service for sign-ups, whether for free or for a small fee. Indeed, there might be a minor business opportunity there, selling sign-ups. If anyone does know of such a service, or is offering to do sign-ups for free, etc, please drop me a line and I’ll link to you.

Research results

First, from the sample 31.8%, or 105 people, were current members of mixi. They were asked the following questions. The first was how often they logged in, with nearly half (49.5% or 52 people) accessing mixi every day. Next was 21.9% who logged in two or three times a week, then 13.3% one or two times a month.

Q1: How many people have you registered as friends on mixi? (Sample size=105)

One to nine people	47.6%
Ten to twenty-nine people	21.9%
Thirty to forty-nine people	13.3%
Fifty to ninety-nine people	13.3%
One to two hundred people	3.8%
More than two hundred people	0.0%
Don’t know	0.0%

Note that by default whoever gave you an invite automatically gets registered as a friend when you first sign up. This question refers to the “My Mixi” feature of friend registration.

Q2: From the friends in Q1, how many are real-life friends or acquaintances? (Sample size=105)

None at all	1.9%
One to three in ten	30.5%
Four to six in ten	7.9%
Seven to nine in ten	28.6%
Everyone	30.5%
Don’t know	1.0%

Note that there is a definite split between those with almost no real friends versus those with all or mostly real friends. A cross-reference between the answers in Q1 and Q2 would also be interesting to see.

Q3: What sorts of mixi contents, features do you often use? (Sample size=105, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Viewing diaries	76	72.4%
Community (groups)	60	57.1%
Writing diary	59	56.2%
Messaging	29	27.6%
mixi news	28	26.7%
Photos	22	21.0%
Search	4	3.8%
Movies	3	2.9%
Reviews	3	2.9%
Music	2	1.9%
Weather	1	1.0%
Other	4	3.8%