Korean social networking phenomenon aims to crack American market

News/Social Networks/Web Culture/Cyworld/Rachel Konrad
Found on: mercurynews.com

Acorns, cartoon alter-egos and bubble-gum kitsch may not seem like the most intimidating weapons for a brazen cultural invasion, but those are the tools Henry Chon is brandishing.

The chief executive of Cyworld Inc. is hoping to translate the hugely popular Korean Web site Cyworld.com into a hip destination for American teens and 20-somethings. Chon and Cyworld's deep-pocketed backers in Seoul are betting the U.S. site, scheduled to launch Aug. 15, becomes as big a phenomenon here as in South Korea, where nine out of 10 citizens between 24 and 29 are members.

"Once Americans see the value of Cyworld, they'll make sure their friends and family use it," said Chon, who keeps photos of his daughter, Chloe, on his Cyworld home page. "We're here to build a meaningful, good community."

Critics question how an Asian company with fewer than 30 U.S. employees can compete against social networking giants like Myspace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which has more than 100 million member profiles and an average of 230,000 new members every day, or The Facebook, which as more than 7.5 million members in high schools and colleges.