Blogging

mixi top SNS, Twitter top blogging service in Japan

How do you use video sharing services? graph of japanese statisticsThe results from this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into online services may not be too reliable for SNS as number two and number three in the list, GREE and Mobage Town, are both mobile phone-based social gaming sites and I feel that the demographic they appeal to differs significantly from the more PC-oriented goo monitor group. I have no data to back up this, so take it with an appropriately-sized pinch of salt.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of January 2010 1,102 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.5% in their twenties, 20.9% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties and 12.6% aged sixty or older.

I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even have uploaded a couple of videos to YouTube.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Microblogging in Japan

Have you seen or heard about microblogging services? graph of japanese statisticsA curious set of results were produced by this recent survey by goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into microblogging. Although (or should that be ‘because’) the report did not define what a microblog was, under 8% reported having used or read one, yet just over 20% reported having been Twitter users, yet Twitter was the very first microblog.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 17th of September 2010 1,079 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.5% in their twenties, 21.0% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

However, there are other microblogs that are more like real blogs but with a text limit and without the social features of Twitter, but I cannot name any offhand! I’m sure there’s a WordPress plugin, though, to turn your blog into a Twitter for one. A quick Google finds these two for starters.

Regarding Q2SQ, I’ve updated my status line on Facebook exactly once.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Free sample monitors in Japan

Do, did you do affiliate marketing on your blog? graph of japanese statisticsiShare recently took a look at free samples, in particular those applied for over the internet. This survey was conducted in conjuction with the affiliate marketing service Affiliate B.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 3rd of February 2010 983 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private interent-based questionnaire. 59.2% of the sample were male, 31.6% in their twenties, 32.6% in their thirties, and 35.8% in their forties.

My wife’s a bit of a free sample addict; every other week or so she’s getting a trial sample of some cosmetic or other. It always does seem rather odd that the companies usually seem to have lotteries to choose who gets a free sample rather than giving it to the first few hundred applicants, but I’m sure there must be a good reason.

I also guess given the cooperation with an affiliate company that there must be some monetary incentive for getting sign-ups. Q1SQ2 seems to suggest they also do pay-per-post campaigns – indeed, examining their site they seem to be a link broker.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Search most common way of finding new blogs

Are you updating a blog? graph of japanese statisticsThe power of Google, or more probably Yahoo! in the case of Japan, was revealed by this recent survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into blog services.

Demographics

Between the 28th and 30th of October 2009 300 members of the Marsh online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 50:50 male and female, 2.0% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

I don’t think I’ve added a new blog to my regular reading list for a while, but the last Japan-related one I added was either through JapanSoc or Japan Probe‘s headline list.

Another blog I’ve recently started reading regularly was found through a Google news RSS feed for one of my other blogs.

How did you first find What Japan Thinks?

View Results

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By Ken Y-N, ago

More ex-users than current RSS users in Japan

Have you ever used an RSS Reader? graph of japanese statisticsIt’s been a while since I’ve seen a survey on RSS feed reading habits, but looking at the data in this survey by iBridge Research Plus and reported on by japan.internet.net perhaps the reason is a lack of interest.

Demographics

On the 17th of August 2009 300 members of the iBridge Research Plus monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% of the sample were male, 17.7% in their twenties, 31.7% in their thirties, 30.7% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 4.3% in their sixties.

I’d be lost without my reader, Google Reader. I actually get just about the same number of feed readers as web site visitors per day, and if I exclude feed readers who click through, my RSS feed is most probably the more popular way of reading What Japan Thinks. If you’re not already subscribed, check out the links on the top left to see what I’m on about!

For the benefit of my Mum, using an RSS reader means you don’t need to set mine or my brother’s site as your home page!
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Twittering local governments in Japan

What do you think of Twittering local government? graph of japanese statisticsWith Twitter showing little sign of adoption in Japan, and TwitterPoli, a site tracking Japanese politicians’ Tweets, having just 10 local officals and 6 national politicians being tracked, this recent survey from MyVoice looking at local government Tweeting (and other related topics) seems a bit pointless, quite frankly.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 27th of July 2009 562 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.0% of the sample were male, 34.5% in their twenties, 32.9% in their thirties, and 32.6% in their forties.

What Japan Thinks can be found on Twitter; most of the content is just automated Tweeting of my posts, but two or three times a week or so I post one-liner survey translations that don’t make it to the main blog.

Note that the Twitter usage rate of 6.2% in this survey versus 2.3% in the previously-mentioned survey can be ascribed to iShare having a more technically-minded audience; the simple fact that the survey respondent pool comes from people using an email forwarding service demonstrates this.

The two local authorities mentioned in Q4 can be read on Twitter; the links are Aomori Prefectural Office (ooh, nice background!) and Hokkaido Rikubetsucho.

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By Ken Y-N, ago

Standby blog topics in Japan

Yesterday was Sunday, but I was all jet-lagged, so please forgive me this post of postponed silliness (only mildly silly in itself, but I find the vast majority of Japanese blogs make Twitter look like Shakespeare) from goo Ranking into standby topics used in blogs, for both men and women.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 25th of May 2009 1,082 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.4% of the sample were male, 7.3% were in their teens, 16.0% in their twenties, 28.1% in their thirties, 27.9% in their forties, 10.8% in their fifties, and 9.9% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. In this case, obviously 100% of the Japanese online population does not blog!

It’s a bit of a short survey, but after posting a detailed look at blogging habits I did comment about politics not featuring in the list of subjects, but here politics makes an appearance.

I should have some of them ready for when I have jet-lag…
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Diaries, hobbies and food most popular Japanese blog themes

About how often do you update your blog? graph of japanese statisticsAlthough recently I’ve translated a number of surveys that promised more than they delivered, this time I feel this one, the fourth survey by MyVoice into blogging has a number of interesting revelations.

Demographics

Over the first five days of May 2009 14,823 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 35% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 19% aged fifty or older.

In Q4, it’s interesting that politics isn’t a selectable theme, but given that just 5% blogged about news in general, I wonder how small that would have been.

Regarding Q5, in Japan they are called blog parts, but in the West they are usually widgets or scriptlets. Looking through the above-linked web site I came across this entertaining one:

For Q6, I’ve been to a cake-related blogger event! I’ve also sadly had to turn down two invites to Danny Choo-organised and corporately-sponsored Tokyo CGM Night, although I did see his Dad’s shoe shop right beside the free cake venue, if that counts for anything.

For Q7, I’d have to immodestly answer “somewhere to use my knowledge, information to contribute to society”, although I do have a letting off steam blog hiding in the shadows… What is blogging to you?
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Twitter not that popular in Japan

Have you ever used Twitter? graph of japanese statisticsThis recent survey from iBridge Research Plus and reported on by japan.internet.com into the web tool of the moment, micro-blogging, found that certainly for the sample used, there are very few Twitterers in Japan.

Demographics

On the 11th of May 2009 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.7% of the sample were male, 22.7% in their twenties, 26.3% in their thirties, 24.7% in their forties, 21.7% in their fifties, and 4.7% in their sixties.

Despite me having a Twitter account and far more followers than I would expect to have, I never use the thing and quite frankly find the fascination with it inexplicable. In addition, it destroys the link structure of the web as everything gets routed through abbreviated URLs, and given that a lot of people use third-party tools to access Twitter, I don’t get full tracking of my incoming traffic.

I can confidently predict that Twitter or other micro-blogs (blogging in less than 200 characters per entry, a sort of blog for SMS) will not take off in Japan until they support emoji.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Blog usage habits in Japan

As a professional blogger (perhaps) my requirements for a blogging service are very different from the average person, so I do find it a little hard to relate to this survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by Marsh Inc into blogging.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 21st of November 2008 300 members of the Marsh monitor panel completed an internet-based questionnaire. The sample was split 50:50 by sex, and 20.0% were in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

In Q1 I think the amount of people reading commercial blogs is rather low, but I suspect it might be that because people are not seeing the URL as megacorp.com/blog, they assume that places are just hobby blogs, not commercial enterprises.

Most of the Japanese blogs, particularly the personal blogs, make Facebook look tasteful.
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By Ken Y-N, ago