Joi Ito's Web

Joi Ito's conversation with the living web.

I find Japan to be extremely "faddy" and the media and consumers tend to jump onto new toys very quickly. Trends tend to die very quickly as well. Things that you are excited about only temporarily are often referred to as "my boom". For example, you might say, "blogging is 'my boom' right now." There are now television ads about blogs. The other day I heard a radio commercial where they read out the URL, but added that you could post comments and send trackbacks. Yes. Trackbacks. I have yet to hear a radio commercial in the US on a normal major FM show (maybe there are some) asking people to send trackbacks a site. It wasn't even a geek site. I think everyone here is finally jumping on the bandwagon.

That's why it's not strange when reports constantly ask me whether I think blogging is a fad, assuming that this "fad" will disappear along with the tamagocchi and pokemon in due time. Many reporters still look at me a bit skeptically when I try to explain that it is a trend, not a fad or some cool new toy. Watching the Japanese consumer machine trying to devour this one will be interesting.

Having said that, I'm sure many people outside of Japan also feel that blogging is just a fad.

16 Comments

Ahhhh trakku-bakksu... sodesu ne...

Blogging about Blogging is a fad!

Borisu ga saikin baka koto itteru ne...

Thank you for your talk in Sapporo. I came to Sapporo just ten days ago and did not expect to see you! Your talk made me think that I need a weblog in English.

Hey emergent democrat. Thanks! (I'm still sitting in the room at the front.)

I agree that blogging about blogging is probably a fad. ;-)

i wonder, is blogging about blogging the equivalent of discovering one's belly button?

i find myself caught in this fad too.

i find your observation about the japanese consumer machine fascinating.

Ce n'est pas une pipe.

The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.
William Gibson

The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it.
William Gibson

Commenting about blogging about blogging is probably the biggest fad of all. ;-)

You, when I think about it, I think blogging will be around long-term in Japan... diary-style websites have been around in that country for a long time, and in a country where everyone has an official hobby or two, it seems like a perfect fit. What I wonder is whether it will have as big of an influence on journalism as it does in the US; Japanese people aren't nearly as polarized in opinion or dogmatic as Americans, in general, I think, so I don't see the blog-based activist/journalist being as big of a deal in Japan.

Well one of the most popular Japanese blogs has stopped, that of Horie, but that's only because he's running for Parliament. Candidates are forbidden from using the internet or email. I guess that law will be changed soon.
That was the main reason you declined the invitation, right? You couldn't abandon your blog... ;-)

I doubt that in five years you'll hear the word "blog" any more than you here the word "Cyber" these days. It's a fad, of course, be it Japan or anywhere else.

Blogging will disappear. Not in the sense that it won't be there, but in the way it will become so ubiquitous that you won't notice it. The functionalities that blogging has introduced are too useful to go away. Comments, trackbacks, syndication, aggregation, APIs for personal web services are all things that while at present aren't perfect, show so much potential for changing the way we communicate and form relationships. Look at this very thread for an example. Joi, you met me because Xeni read my feed and forwarded something I wrote. Boris I knew through reading his blog was an ok sort of guy, so I offered him a place to stay when he visited town. Karl and I met because I blogged about a café that had WiFi. Ado, well... That was more IRC, but I certainly checked out his blog before I agreed to come work with him.

Blogging in Japan will never be like blogging in America.
The personal boundaries are different and the societal norms are unlike those of other places, but Japan will take the aspects of blogging that work for Japan and run with them.
If you look at the way television boomed here, it had an immensely slow start and as I've heard, did not boom until people bought televisions in huge numbers to watch the wrestler Riki Dozan. TV may have been a boom then, but it certainly hasn't gone away, any more than the Internet and personal publishing will.
When I moved to Japan, having Internet connectivity was an expensive and difficult proposition compared to the US. Now, 100 megabit connections can be had for less than the cost of a keitai.
I do hope, though, that Japanese blogs somehow manage to be better than Japanese television. Horrible stuff...

I don't see how Japanese TV can be worse than American TV. That said, Japanese blogs need work on the design (ignoring content for now). Most blogs like that of Horie seem to be the standard blog look. Joi's is a refreshing difference, but then his is designed by our good ol' Bo.

Ado: your cheque is in the mail... ;)

dirty family business

VOIは、インド専門ニュースポータルの先駆けとして、日本のマスメディア

では報じられない、インド発の最新ニュースを日本語でお届けしています。

インドへの関心の高まりと、熱心な読者の皆さまのおかげで、毎日多くの

方がVOIに訪問してくださっています。

VOIでは、皆さまからのご意見、ご要望、アイデアをお待ちしています。

インドのニュースを日本語で、という従来のスタンスは変わりませんが、

今後はそれに加え、インドに興味のある皆さまの声を紹介し、もっと活発

に意見交換ができる場所にしていきたいと考えています。

「インド旅行記」や「インド関連イベント情報」でも構いませんし、

「インド人に聞きたいこと」「インド人に言いいたいこと」など、日頃から

抱いているインドに対する思い、疑問、提言などをお寄せください。

日本とインドの間に情報の橋を架けるために努力していきます。

皆さまのご協力をお待ちしています。

http://www.voiceofindia.co.jp

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Blogs being advertised on Japanese TV from The Blog Herald: more blog news more often
August 31, 2005 3:49 PM

Joi Ito writes on the Japanese blog boom. "There are now television ads about blogs. The other day I heard a radio commercial where they read out the URL, but added that you could post comments and send trackbacks. Yes. Trackbacks. .... It wasn't ev... Read More

Joi Ito weist uns auf einen Werbespot in Japan hin, in dem Zuhörer aufgefordert werden eine URL aufzusuchen und dort Kommentare (!) und Trackbacks (!!) zu hinterlassen (!!!). Blogging goes Massenmedium. ... Read More

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September 1, 2005 12:46 AM

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Joi explique [en] que les publicités pour ouvrir un blog à la télé et à la radio sont banales au Japon et il passe son temps à expliquer aux journalistes qu'il ne s'agit pas que d'une mode comme les Read More

Joi is talking about TV commercials for blogs in Japan and radio shows asking the audience to trackback their blog. He keeps being asked, like me often in Europe too, wether it's a fad or not with such a Read More

I took this picture this morning during a meeting. It was sitting on a manager's desk who obviously also has them all in his electronic address book. I keep being asked by people who want to start a company Read More