– Homogenous society with Confucian values

– Appealing to East Asian neighbors

– Cultural Exporter and growing “soft power”

Highly Collectivist Society
According to Hofstede’s cultural dimension of Individualism, the South Korean society scored a rank of 18 out of 100.

- Sense of identity exists in groups and family units.

In the social media scene, the collectivistic nature of South Koreans is evident. The popularity of online communities such as the Daum Cafés and forums show that Koreans like to come together and share all kinds of information.

The evolution of citizen journalism in Korea also shows their collectivistic nature. The Koreans have a strong sense of democracy and freedom of speech. They see the advantage of a unified voice and they believe that the public voice has the greatest power. OhmyNews is the result of the popularity of citizen journalism which is further accelerated by the growing rate of Internet and worldwide connectivity.

The Korean Identity
South Koreans have a distinct and homogeneous identity that is influenced by Confucian beliefs. The homogeneity of their society encourages them to show strong support for local products. They tend to prefer to use products that are made in Korea. They have a strong sense of patriotism and they are proud of their Korean identity.

This localized mentality that Koreans have, have caused some drawbacks. There exist a language barrier between Koreans and the rest of the world. This can be seen from the fact that Korean web is segregated from the rest of the world as most of their portals and social media platforms (e.g. Cyworld, Daum, etc.) are in Korean only.

The Korean Wave ("Hallyu")
Korean Wave fuelling expansion of South Korea portals across region.

Korean films, dramas and music have gained a respectable amount of popularity from audiences all over the world. These films give an accurate portrayal of the Korean culture and landscape. The tourism industry of South Korea has benefited from “hallyu” greatly.




Language barrier

– Korean web sphere segregated from the rest of the world

– Has developed its own web world, comprised of Korean web pages, and distinct Korean web culture

– Young and wealthier driving change in Social Media

– Erosion of cultural values as youth become more individualistic and shed collectivistic mindset

– Tensions against the different age groups

– Young are more exposed to western ideals and more individualistic

– Growing disillusionment with ideals of Confucian harmony and hierarchy

The Internet is able to reach audiences from all over the world. Hence, Korean youths are more exposed to different things and experiences. This has resulted in a slight shift in Korean youths from being collectivistic to being more individualistic. This can be seen from the widespread use of blogs and personal profile pages. These pages are mostly personalized to the users’ tastes and preferences through the use of skins and applications.


Consumer Culture

- South Korea also has a consumer culture that rivals the United States and Japan. Social status is marked by an individual's ability to stay abrest of new trends and technology. This strongly relates to having internet access, a PC and also, by extention, online games.