http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100727000838
Korean Tweeters focus on select few: survey
2010-07-27 16:19
More than half of Twitter users in Korea follow less than 10 people, a local survey released on Tuesday said.
According to the KBS Broadcast Research Institute’s online survey of 14,649 people in 16 cities and provinces, 5,022 of the respondents turned out to be Twitter users.
Of these users, 56.7 percent said they do not follow more than nine people. Only 6.1 percent said they follow more than 100. Users that follow 10 to 19 people made up 17.9 percent, while 8.4 percent followed 20 to 29 people.
Sixty-one percent of the surveyed users had less than nine followers. People with more than 100 followers accounted for 5.8 percent.
Chung Dong-hun, professor of media studies at Kwangwoon University noted that Twitter’s growing popularity in Korea owes much to its small number of heavy users and celebrities.
“Twitter is a social network service that’s mainly based on relationships,” he told The Korea Herald. “So, the heavy users or well-known figures tend to communicate with more people, while others don’t.”
On the pros and cons of the social media outlet, 69.1 percent of the surveyed users said the program provides a new, positive cyber-space medium for communication. Despite this, however, 50.2 percent believed Twitter is often being abused as a corporate marketing tool.
Users should deepen their understanding of the social media in order to prevent possible misuse of the service, 75.9 percent of the surveyed users said. Fifty-seven percent said companies should provide a Twitter guideline for their workers.
“The nature of Twitter might not work for certain work places, such as government offices,” he said. “Because of its pressure on immediacy, workers who are responsible for Twitter updates might give out inaccurate information without having enough time to check it. They should be careful with that and set solid regulations.”
On a side note, more than 20 percent of the users witnessed cases of lying and defamation on Twitter. This month, comedian and radio broadcaster Kim Mi-wha was sued by KBS for her Twitter remarks that accused the national network for having a political blacklist.
By Claire Lee (clairelee@heraldm.com)
