By Ken Y-N ( January 6, 2010 at 12:23)
· Filed under Internet, Polls, Society
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With Facebook perhaps poised to do a full-on launch in Japan, iShare decided to look at Facebook’s requirement for real names, and real names on the internet in general.
Demographics
Between the 7th and 10th of December 2009 492 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.4% of the sample were male, 30.1% in their twenties, 28.5% in their thirties, and 41.5% in their forties.
I’ve got no problem using my real name, although I know my wife is pretty paranoid about doing so for various reasons that seem rather unclear to me. “People will know who you are and…” but I never find out what comes after the “and”. This does seem to be a rather common trait on the Japanese internet, as more often than not there are no names and no unobscured faces adorning the average blog.
Now I think about it, most of the people on Facebook that I have friended have their real names on display, but it never really registered until I read this survey!
Research results
Q1: Do you feel reluctant to reveal your real name on the internet? (Sample size=492)
| |
All |
Male
N=258 |
Female
N=234 |
| Not at all reluctant |
2.0% |
3.5% |
0.4% |
| Not really reluctant |
5.3% |
7.0% |
3.4% |
| A little reluctant |
22.4% |
28.3% |
15.8% |
| Very reluctant |
70.3% |
61.2% |
80.3% |
Q2: Do you think revealing one’s real name on an SNS, blog, web site could spark a business opportunity, networking opportunity? (Sample size=492)
| |
All |
Male
N=258 |
Female
N=234 |
| Very much think so |
5.7% |
7.8% |
3.4% |
| Perhaps think so |
27.4% |
25.2% |
29.9% |
| Don’t think so |
66.9% |
67.1% |
66.7% |
Q3: If revealing one’s real name on an SNS, blog, web site could spark a business opportunity, networking opportunity, might you want to reveal your own real name? (Sample size=492)
| |
All |
Male
N=258 |
Female
N=234 |
| Definitely |
4.3% |
5.8% |
2.6% |
| If there was the opportunity, would try |
23.2% |
29.8% |
15.8% |
| Would not reveal my real name |
72.6% |
64.3% |
81.6% |
Q4: Facebook, the American SNS that has a rule requiring real names, is making noises about entering the Japanese market. If Facebook were to officially enter the Japanese market, do you think it would be a trigger for the spread of the use of real names? (Sample size=492)
| |
All |
Male
N=258 |
Female
N=234 |
| Very much think so |
4.9% |
5.8% |
3.8% |
| Don’t think things will change overnight |
36.6% |
35.7% |
37.6% |
| Don’t think so at all |
58.5% |
58.5% |
58.5% |
Q5: Do you think that people should use their real names online? (Sample size=492)
| |
All |
Male
N=258 |
Female
N=234 |
| Very much agree |
2.4% |
3.5% |
1.3% |
| Perhaps agree |
11.0% |
14.0% |
7.7% |
| Perhaps disagree |
44.1% |
43.0% |
45.3% |
| Completely disagree |
42.5% |
39.5% |
45.7% |
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I have talked with Japanese here in the states, and they said that they were worried when they joned Facebook because of the requirement for a real name. They preferred Mixi, which lets people use fake names.
As far as I’ve observed as a Japanese male, people seem to be reluctant in revealing their real name not only in Japan, but whole the Far East. I would say it is not because of our culture, but because the diversity of our names.
In my opinion, it’s because of the origins of their names. Most names of Europeans, Americans and Arabians, such as John, Mary and Muhammad, come from their dominant religions. It is therefore natural that those people do not hesitate to reveal their real name, because they are sure that there are many people who share their name in the world.
In contrast, Far Easterners do not generally have common origins in their name, and it is not so difficult to specify ones only from their given names.
In addition, there actually are nasty people on the Web who are eager to abuse others by identifying them. For example, if an eighteen-years-old collage student wrote in his blog “I got drunk” and he almost expelled from the university (Under twenties are legally prohibited from drinking here, though collage students and those who have jobs are virtually exempted from the restriction), because many stupid internet users put pressure to his (private) university. In Korea, some people have even committed suicide after being severely abused on the Web. It is thus a real danger for us to reveal our real name on the Web.
By the way, “So” is a shortened form of my real name. I’m having no fear in revealing it, because it’s quite common in Japanese name.