Mobile SNS: free games big draw in Japan
Advertisement
I haven’t seen anything on SNS for a while, so I was pleased to see japan.internet.com report on a survey conducted by Point On Research into mobile Social Networking Services.
Demographics
On the 8th of June 2009 exactly 800 people successfully completed a private mobile phone internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were male, 25.0% in their teens, 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, and 25.0% in their forties. Note that because this is a mobile phone-based sample, which judging by previous surveys means there will be an over-representation of heavy mobile users, so the absolute percentages of mobile SNS users should be viewed in that light; the original text does indeed describe the sample as being “heavy users”.
GREE especially is heavily-advertised on television, and it is the game aspect that they push, not the social aspect. However, the games they show (mostly a fishing one and some ugly virtual pet) are particularly off-putting to me and make me want to avoid the place! I’d normally add in a link to the adverts on YouTube, but for some reason I cannot find them!
Research results
From the sample, 441 people (55.1%) were either current or ex-users of SNS, and 321 people (40.1% of the complete sample or 72.8% of the total SNS users) used mobile-based SNS. It is not clear from the text whether these 321 people include ex-users of mobile SNS, but I think the implication is that they are.
The 321 mobile SNS users were asked the following.
Q1: Which mobile SNS have you used? (Sample size=321, multiple answer)
Votes Percentage mixi mobile 233 72.6% Mobage town 152 47.4% GREE mobile 137 42.7% ixen 28 8.7% NEO 25 7.8% Puchige 21 6.5% Any 4 1.2% Other 54 16.8% Note that mixi is just an SNS, but Mobage town and GREE mobile are Flash mini-game-oriented.
Q2: Which do you access SNS from more, mobile phone or computer? (Sample size=321)
Computer 14.0% Mobile phone 70.4% Both about the same 15.0% Don’t know 0.6% Q3: About how often do you use mobile SNS? (Sample size=321)
Every day 66.7% Twice or thrice a week 19.0% Once a week 7.8% Once a fortnight 1.9% Once a month 2.8% Once every six months 0.9% Once a year 0.6% Less than once a year 0.3%
Subscribe to feed
[...] —Android On Orange UK: Orange UK is gearing up to launch an Android handset, possibly the HTC Hero, reports ZDNet UK. —Japanese Mobile Social Network Users: A survey of 800 Japanese found that 55.1 percent were either current or ex-users of mobile social networks, and 72.8 percent of those used a mobile-based social network. Of those who used it 70.4 percent said they mostly accessed the social networks from the mobile phone…which means 28.2 percent of the people surveyed said the mostly accessed social networks from the mobile phone. (What Japan Thinks) [...]
[...] – Japanese Mobile Social Network Users: A survey of 800 Japanese found that 55.1 percent were either current or ex-users of mobile social networks, and 72.8 percent of those used a mobile-based social network. Of those who used it 70.4 percent said they mostly accessed the social networks from the mobile phone…which means 28.2 percent of the people surveyed said the mostly accessed social networks from the mobile phone. (What Japan Thinks) [...]