MySpace. Facebook. Friendster. Dogster, even. Social networking sites have become immensely popular in recent years, although one one particular social networking site that has been garnering increased attention from the international arena lately has been around far longer than most of its peers. I’m talking about Cyworld, the Korean social networking site that was launched in 1999 by 4 recent college graduates. Cyworld’s early days were fairly bleak and not hugely successful. Things took a turn for the better when the site was acquired by major Korean telecommunications company, SK Communications, in 2003. The company gave Cyworld mobile capabilities so that any Cyworld member can access his or her account by phone. SK Communications also connected Cyworld to Nate.com, which provided its instant messaging service. To date, there are 20 million Cyworld members, and over 90% of Koreans between the ages of 20-29 have Cyworld accounts. Other impressive figures are the 6 million songs that are downloaded through the site every month, as well as the 100,000 videos uploaded daily.

The popularity of Cyworld has lead to its launch in other countries, including Japan, Taiwan, China, and the United States. The US Cyworld is a modified version of its Korean parent, lacking some of the graphics and features that make it uniquely Korean. The fact that the US version has been watered down begs the question: can the popularity of a site with such strong appeal in one culture translate over into another culture?

But I digress. When you become a Cyworld member, you are presented with a mini homepage, avatar (called a mini me), and mini rooms which you can customize according to your own tastes. And there is much room for creativity in customizing these items, with Cyworld’s 4,400 graphic artisits constantly creating new and interesting graphics. The genius behind Cyworld lies in its unique money making model: although becoming a Cyworld member is free, personalizing your own site is not. Personalizing one’s site makes it interesting and thus appealing to others. The appeal of one’s site is directly related to the amount of members (or mini me’s) who will visit it and want to be friends. The idea behind it is that since the goal of those logging into social networking sites is to expand their social circles, it goes without saying that creating (financing) an intriguing site is worth the expense. Cyworld members pay for digital decorations in the form of backgrounds, charms, pets, clothing, accessories, etc. The currency of Cyworld is the acorn, which, at about 100 wan per acorn, translates to roughly 9 cents.

Will Cyworld give Myspace a run for its money? I dont think so. Although the average Cyworld member spends $7 per year, while the average Myspace member spends only $2.17, the site’s creators don’t expect the US Cyworld to rake in huge sums of money, especially not from the sale of digital decorations. Rather, US sales will come primarily from advertising. Advertisers will have the ability to boost their brand awareness and popularity by creating their own mini homepages and doling out promotional acorns and offers.

One interesting feature that Cyworld can boast over MySpace is that it hasnt incurred the predator problems-and subsequent bad publicity- that MySpace has, due to a more extensive sign up process. (Koreans have to submit their national ID (like social security #) in order to become members, meaning that no one can have an anonymous profile from which to stalk little children.

So, will Cyworld wow American audiences? I’m guessing not; paying to decorate one’s homepage in 9 cent increments is not something that is familiar or appealing to Americans. The fact that the US version of Cyworld provides the incentive of free acorns upon sign up as well as promotional acorns from advertisers attests to this statement. Ultimately, Cyworld is a closed platform and is thus limited in what it can offer members. I think that freedom reigns here in the US – and the freedom that has made Myspace so attractive and so popular will not likely be forsaken for Cyworld’s cutesy graphics. Having launched in the US only a few months ago, I guess it still remains to be seen.