Israel Japan | Business Guide | 2018

046 > Mobile > New Media Israel-Japan > Business Guide > 2018 The Social Network Revolution Also in Japan ‏ Overcoming apprehensions and building confidence in the technology Iris Debby Aharoni ‏ T he use of social networks has become an important point of contact with online audiences and a useful tool for sales and service.Today, virtually any business should have social media presence; whether it is an official page responding to customer inquiries or marketing activities promoting the brand. ‏ The use of online social networks such as Facebook (the most recognized social network with over 800 million users and hundreds of millions of groups),LinkedIn,Twitter and more has changed the way we communicate with each other and our surroundings,the way we find work, receive and transmit information, and even get a good recommendation for a restaurant and hotel, and the list goes on. ‏ These are dedicated sites / services, based entirely on the content of their users/visitors: ‏ Their goal is to allow their users to share meaningful information,photos,and events with their friends and the world. ‏ In Japan, there is widespread use of many social networks and the number of users is growing every year. ‏ The Main Social Network Sites ‏ Facebook: ‏ Facebook, the largest and most known network, is not the most user-friendly social network in Japan. ‏ The main reason for this is that Facebook requires a user with real personal information, while the Japanese are very protective about their privacy and therefore are apprehensive about using theWeb.Also,there is considerable aversion to identity exposure,andmany of the bloggers there write under pseudonyms. ‏ As a result,the posts posted by the Japanese via Facebook are often non-controversial and lacking audacity or creativity. ‏ Eventually,Facebook managed to break through this cultural barrier and even experienced rapid growth in 2011-2012. ‏ Today, there is measured growth in the use of Facebook. The Japanese use this network as a professional tool (like LinkedIn) and maintain business relationships with colleagues and managers. ‏ LinkedIn: ‏ The LinkedIn network,which is used to create professional and business relationships between users, has not been very successful in Japan and most Japanese users are English-speakers living in the country. ‏ LINE: ‏ LINE is a messaging application and is the leading application in Japan. However, the appearance of competing applications resulted in a decrease in users of LINE in 2016. ‏ Twitter: ‏ Twitter's success in Japan is largely due to its friendly and anonymous user interface.Twitter experienced significant growth between 2014 and 2015 and currently has more than 40 million registered users in Japan. ‏ Even celebrities and opinion leaders prefer to "tweet" on Twitter, and users who can remain anonymous can follow themwithout apprehension. ‏ Instagram : ‏ Only in 2016 did the photo-sharing network begin to establish its presence in Japan and today it is the fastest- growing social network in Japan. ‏ The popularity of Instagram can also be attributed to anonymity in usage and its easy and convenient interface for users. Many businesses in Japan, mainly businesses selling fashion accessories, hair and beauty products, use Instagram to advertise their products. ‏ Japanese celebrities use Instagram to leverage their careers and post photos as well as promote various products. ‏ Snow: The most popular app among young people in Japan - like Snapchat,which is very popular among young people in the United States, Snow is an application for sharing pictures and videos, which allows you to add text, stickers and drawings as you wish. ‏ Snow is targeted towards the youth and younger audience in China,Japan and South Korea. The app has features and filters that suit the tastes of Asian youth. ‏ The writer:Iris Debby Aharoni,Customer Relations Manager, ADDVALUE. ‏ ADDVALUE,a business development company that is dedicated tomaking Israeli technologies available to businesses in Japan. ‏ http://addvalueinv.com/ENG/ ‏ http://addvalueinv.com/JAP/ Mid 80s: Netafim started selling its products to Japan through agents. The subsidiary Netafim Japan was incorporated in Tokyo in April 1996. Historical Moments