Re:Koreans cybertrip to a tailor-made world

Koreans cybertrip to a tailor-made world By Deborah Cameron, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo May 7, 2005 Cyworld is like a new planet. On it everyone has a private room and a circle of friends who bring gifts. There is an inexhaustible range of home decoration possibilities and cool music. In South Korea, Cyworld is both a giant in the galaxy of cyberspace and a community website. It has 13 million residents and visitors, more than a quarter of the country's population. With it has come its own currency, slang and social pressure. In Cyworld an address is a "minihompy", which is short for mini-homepage or, between friends, simply a "hompy". A person with a homepage is called a "mini-me". New Cyworld citizens get a featureless empty room as part of their homepage package. The challenge is to decorate it and then construct a personality for mini-me. For Cyworld's owners, one of Seoul's most successful internet companies, the site makes 200 million won ($258,000) a day, according to the Samsung Economic Research Institute. Money pours in when the Cyworld population goes on a decorating, gift-buying or music downloading spree. The more attractive and interesting the room, the more visitors it gets, and in Cyworld popularity equates to fame and success. The site even measures "sexiness" and "friendliness", which it gauges by the number of gifts a person gives or receives. Advertisement"Most of my friends had entered Cyworld before me and their mini-rooms showed just that," recounted Jennifer Park, a reporter for Seoul's OhMyNews. "They had tonnes of digital items such as fancy wallpapers, furniture, pets and more. Their number of visitors exceeded mine by far, triggering my ambition and jealousy." Ms Park says she spent so much time in Cyworld trying to build her popularity that she diagnosed herself a "cyholic" and quit. Almost every South Korean in their 20s has been a subscriber to the site, according to the president of SK Communications, Mr Yoo Hyun-oh, who owns it. The way people live in South Korea has probably contributed to the phenomenal success of Cyworld. Identical and economical but unlovely blocks of flats that rise by the hectare in commuter suburbs have created the perfect environment: a craving for escapism, and a dense and easily wired landscape for broadband companies. Today South Korea is the world's most internet-connected country. At the end of 2003, more than 11 million households - three-quarters of all homes - had broadband access which, according to cable companies, was saturation point. Cyworld started in 2001 but remained small until 2003, when its popularity exploded. The Cyworld currency is "dotori", Korean for acorn. An acorn costs 100 won (about 12 cents), which might sound like peanuts but it mounts up. Something small from the online shop might cost three acorns, but the average purchase costs 10 acorns and something elaborate might set the buyer back 20 acorns. The "rent" for some items has to be paid each month or they disappear. The acorns are sold at bookstores, milk bars and newsagents, or they can be bought by bank transfer, credit card or through a direct debit on a phone bill. Acorn gift vouchers were an instant hit when they came on the market in March - a staff recruitment agency found that after hard cash, acorns were the second preference as this year's New Year bonus. The Samsung Economic Research Institute, which has been tracking developments in Cyworld, was told by a 28-year-old graphic designer, who spent 10,000 won a month on acorns, that the gift vouchers were a great idea because when it comes to acorns "you can never have enough". 머 읽어보니 욕하는 내용은 없구요;;ㅎ 싸이에 대해서 설명하고 있는.. 도토리보고 acorn이래ㅋㅋㅋㅋ