#2 Concealing Their Identities

Ardent Japanese Scholars accustomed to Facebook may find themselves confused after accepting an invitation to join Japan's premier social networking site mixi.jp, puzzled over who is who amongst the Japanese people registered to their maimiku friend list.

That's because Japanese people frown upon using real names for accounts and likewise abstain from uploading pictures of themselves. Instead, Japanese people find it more suitable to upload pictures of their dogs or a favorite anime character to use as avatars.

This often leaves the hobby section of a Japanese person's social networking account as the ideal section to make positive identification. Unfortunately for Ardent Japanese Scholars, the problem is compounded by the fact that mixi has a preselected list of 24 hobbies for its users, which includes gourmet food, traveling, and driving.

In some cases, the only information available to identify a Japanese person may be gender or birthday (month and day only).

The wrong kind of Japanese scholar may ask himself, "Why do Japanese people bother joining social networking sites if they value their online privacy so highly?"

Despite their apprehension, Japanese people are fond of social networking site mixi.jp because it provides them with the opportunity to express themselves within a collective group using a range of 24 accepted hobbies. This avoids the risk of drawing too much attention to themselves and standing out -- something Japanese people don't like.

Social networking sites like mixi meet this condition. It's like having your gourmet cake and eating it too. That's something Japanese people love.