newsblog

The wonderful thing about the internet is that it allows people from all over the world to communicate and connect with each other, no matter where they're located. The rise of personal blogs and social networking through sites like Facebook, Mixi, and LinkedIn has provided a means of connecting people across the globe and bringing us all closer together. Now we can easily find out how friends in such far away places as Tanzania are doing and keep up to date with them.

However, if one is spending all their time in front of the computer using these social networking sites, are they really being very social? Hasn't the image of a social person always been someone who enjoys going out, meeting people, and interacting with them in person? Isn't the internet actually causing us to spend less time interacting with our friends and the people in our social networks out in the real world?

Like any popular tool driven by public interest, the internet goes though cycles. Recently the pendulum has begun to swing back, and people have begun to desire more actual face time. Facebook users for example, have long been updating their status to show not just what they're doing, but where they are. "Enjoying a nice latte at Cappuccino Joe's" for example, or "Leaving for the club now. Meet me there!" Now, with the advent of Facebook Places, anyone with a smartphone can login and show exactly where they are. Other companies like Foursquare and Gowalla are providing a similar service, and combining the localization service with game-like features.

The rise of smartphones, the mobile internet, and localization services is bringing the connective power of the internet back closer to home.  Now, not only can you keep up to date with friends on the other side of the world, you can also find new friends by logging in and seeing the profiles of people in the same coffee shop as you. The new internet is not only global, it's also very local.

For businesses, the new potential to connect with customers is huge. These new services allow companies to provide coupons, loyalty discounts, and to market to on-site customers. Like anything to do with social networks, this brings up privacy concerns, but if managed well can be a very useful marketing tool for companies looking to connect with their actual, on-site customers.

For an internet company like konnichiwa-japan, the importance of location is an interesting subject. On the one hand, we can do our web design work, interact with customers, and even collaborate with co-workers anywhere in the world, as long as we have an internet connection. But on the other hand, the area we live and work in greatly affects how we do business. If you are an internet company located in Silicon Valley, then you have access to a great range of offline resources; personal networks, advisors, financial support systems, etc.

This is one of the reasons we have decided to move our head office to Sapporo from Date. As of September 1st, we will be located at 〒060-0004, Kita 4 Building #602, Kita 4, 6 Chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo. Being in Sapporo allows us to benefit from the local network of artists, web designers, and the general business infrastructure here. We are looking forward to both becoming an active member of the Sapporo internet community, as well as helping Sapporo and all of Hokkaido to connect with the rest of the world via the internet.