In the East, there is much greater use of niche social networks, rather than the widespread uptake of the same platforms that is common in the West, with only Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others like Bebo proving dominant.
Nathan MacDonald, managing partner of public relations agency We Are Social, suggests that wireless communications are one factor at play in the Chinese industry segment, where there are a number of discrepancies from the Western paradigm.
"One of these differences is the use of instant messaging - particularly in China - and those social networks are now going to rise," he says. "Your mobile systems are very popular over there."
Twitter, conversely, has found favour quickly in Japan, which Mr MacDonald claims is likely to be in part due to its "friendliness" for mobile device users.
