Cyworld is finally pulling plugs from the US market. (Link in Korean.) Cyworld US launched in August 2006 - I still remember Wired print magazine doing a major coverage saying something like, "Myspace is doomed now." It now turns out that the prediction was widely off the mark.
Cause of failure? Well, for starters (the obvious ones): Cyworld didn't seem to have sharp strategies as to how to position their service (Was it Myspace or Habbo hotel?); They didn't localize the service very well; SK Telecom, the parent company, didn't "get it" yet still tried to put a grip on the business.
The majority of Cyworld users in the US have been Korean teens studying abroad in the US or Korean-American teens, making Cyworld still largely a Korea-specific social network. This puts a very clear limit to the service's growth. But at least among the Koreans, Cyworld still seems to be the king of social network. It's time for Korean web entrepreneurs to step up and build a Post-Cyworld service - and the recession can be a good time for one to keep heads down and work on such a project under the radar. If the hypothetical post-Cyworld does come out, I hope it will be something that's easier to localize than Cyworld has been.
