## (4) Trend toward networked/multi-functional mobile ICT terminals

Mobile ICT terminals have made a drastic advancement due to the progress in the technologies to produce smaller and lighter devices and the advancement of wireless communication technology. The direction of the advancement can be characterized as a move toward “multi-function” and “networking.” With mobile phones and other mobile ICT terminals equipped with various functions and connected to networks, the terminal functions will be further advanced.

### 2. Flat Information Distribution

## (1) Increased information generated by individuals

By deepening of a ubiquitous network society, services that are called consumer-generated media, such as blogs, social networking services (SNS) and “word-of-mouth” sites, have been spreading rapidly in recent years. The spread of consumer-generated media means that individuals, who had been passive receivers of information collected, edited and sent out by corporations, have become entities that actively send information by themselves. It can be said that the prevalence of CGM has changed the conventional one-way information flow into two-way information flow on an equal footing.

## (2) Blogs and SNS

Of consumer-generated media, blogs and SNS in particular have spread dramatically. The percentage of Internet users browsing blogs opened by individuals comes to around 40%, and 12.4% browse every day (Graph 1-65). The ratio of SNS users to total Internet users is still low. SNS is still in the process of increasing

Graph 1-65 Frequency of Browsing Blogs

(Source for Graph 1-65) "Survey on the Use of ICT in Social Life in Japan"

diffusion (Graph 1-66).

## (3) New trend in mass media

While the opportunity for individuals to generate information has expanded, there are new moves in the mass media, the conventional main distributors of information. Business tie-ups and corporate acquisition among existing media and between existing media and Internet companies have been increasing on a global scale. Amid these movements, the Internet has been increasing its impact. The Internet is also increasing its influence as a new advertisement medium. This can be attributed to the facts that, unlike the conventional mass media which distribute undifferentiated contents to the general public, the spread of the Internet has made it possible to distribute contents meeting the needs and interest of specific users without regard to location and time, and that the development of broadband networks has made it easy to distribute video contents.

## (4) Emergence of new social and economic systems

The development of ubiquitous networks has enabled various types of collaboration and diverse information/knowledge accumulation through networks, increasing the influence of individuals. In the field of commerce, it has enabled two-way communications between suppliers and consumers, establishing a route to transmit consumers' detailed needs to suppliers. This has led to the creation of a new “collaborative” business model based on two-way communications between suppliers and consumers, different from the conventional supplier-led business model.

Graph 1-66 Ratio of SNS Users to Internet Users

(Source for Graph 1-66) "2006 Survey on the Use of Communications (Household)," Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications