Cyworld eyes comeback with revamped mobile service

Cyworld, once Korea's most prominent social networking service (SNS), is targeting to reclaim its past glories with a redesigned mobile service, which will help woo more visitors, its chief said Tuesday.

Cyworld has witnessed a fall in the number of its mobile site visitors. In August, the number of unique visitors reached 1.2 million, more than halving from 2.9 million in January. On the other hand, Facebook saw the number of visitors surge to 5.5 million from 3.5 million in the cited period.

Unique visitors refer to the number of different people that accessed a Web site, excluding repetitive visits by a single user.

"It's true that Cyworld has not been coping well in the transition to information-centered open SNS models," said Lee Joo-sik, the chief of SK Communications Co., which operates Cyworld.

"But the need for a third-generation SNS that mixes real-time communication with personal space is rising. Cyworld aims to reclaim its leadership by filling in the niche that existing SNS models cannot satisfy."

As part of efforts, Cyworld updated its service with simplified designs that are apt for mobile use and features that help users easily share the background music on their personal pages, he said.

The company also added a "Now" feature that enables users to jot down their feelings and whereabouts in real time. The posts will later be integrated into a "Now Story" feature that categorizes and saves their everyday lives in different themes.

SK Communications plans to renovate its web version within this year, according to the company. (Yonhap)