Facebook Overtakes Cyworld in Korea?

A recent report in The Korea Times is indicating that Facebook has overtaken the nation’s dominant social network Cyworld in terms of monthly visitors.

The article cites metrics from Rankey.com which says that Cyworld Mini Hompy saw 15.9 million visitors in August, down from 18 million the previous month. Some of you may recall that Cyworld was hacked back on July 26th. Though it seems the network’s decline started well before that, with a number of failed efforts to expand beyond Korea’s borders and increasing competition from other services.

One of those competing services is Facebook, which is reported to have grown 16 times on the previous year to 16.3 million visitors last month, surpassing Cyworld (see below).

from Rankey.com (overlaid English labels ours)

But social metrics are always tricky to nail down, and looking at user base figures indicates that Facebook still has a long way to go. In comparison with Cyworld’s 25 million users, Facebook only has about 4 million to date (according to Social Bakers). If the Korean Herald report is any indication, many of Cyworld’s users are likely inactive ones. One user explains:

I don’t know why, but it seems that people started getting bored with Cyworld. I have an account there, but I haven’t updated it for more than a year. I sometimes log on to the service, but I see that my friends aren’t making any updates, either.

Meanwhile, Facebook is making other inroads in Asia with a new office in Singapore to focus on sales and partnerships. There’s still no word on any China plans however, so don’t hold your breath on that front.

[The Korea Times via Korea Information Society]