Cyworld sets August U.S. invasion

Can Cyworld, Korea’s most popular social-network service with blog-like features, attract American youngsters, too? The U.S. monthly magazine Business 2.0 recently ran an in-depth article on who would win in a battle between Cyworld and MySpace. Cyworld, operated by SK Communications, an Internet arm of SK Group, is launching its U.S. version in mid-August after a customizing process the past eight months in San Francisco. The language was changed from Korean into English, and the design interface was modified as the Korean site was “a little too cutesy” for American teens, said Henry Chon, chief executive of SK Communications’ U.S. operation. The article said per capita penetration of Cyworld in Korea is higher than MySpace in the United States: Cyworld has 18 million members in Korea, or more than a third of the population. About 90 percent of Korean 20-somethings have signed up for the service. “Its business plan is unique. There’s relatively little advertising and a whole lot of viral marketing, and the bulk of Cyworld revenue comes from the sale of virtual items worth nearly $300,000 a day, or more than $7 per user per year. By comparison, ad-heavy MySpace makes an estimated $2.17 per user per year,” the article reported. The news story, however, pointed out that Cyworld is entering the U.S. market at a time of social-networking saturation. by Seo Ji-eun