Mixi IPO tests Asia social networks

September 14 could be a landmark date for social networking in Asia. That's the day Mixi, Japan's answer to MySpace, launches an initial public stock offering.

Mixi's IPO is being viewed as a barometer for social-networking potential in all of Asia. Just about all the large international sites, from MySpace to South Korea's Cyworld, are targeting Japan's growing market.

But finding a universal formula for social networking may be an impossible goal. As reflections of their physical origins, they must capture the unique cultural nuances of their respective societies.

Metropolis, a leading English-language magazine in Japan, writes that Mixi is "happening in a uniquely Japanese way: it's heavily mobile-based, it's privacy-oriented, and it's happening concurrently on both a mainstream and niche market level."

Those are important distinctions. The early popularity of text messaging in Japan was attributed in part to a cultural comfort with written communication over speech or face-to-face conversation. So Mixi's mobile access and emphasis on privacy make a lot of sense.

And the concurrent mainstream and niche growth is consistent with broader societal characteristics as well: The Japanese are famous for their comformity and bandwagon-jumping ways in popular trends.

All of this means that social-networking isn't easily translated from one culture to the next. Cyworld, for example, has tried to extend its phenomenal success to the United States, but the response so far hasn't exactly been overwhelming.

As nice as it might be as a subject of fantasy, a single global network that could help bridge gaps in culture and geopolitics would seem directly counter to human nature.