The earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 devastated many, and when phones went down Japan turned to social media to connect with the rest of the world.
In record numbers the Japanese used Facebook and Miki to connect with family and friends.

In 2011 Japan also saw social media sites making friends, Twitter partnered up with Miki, (thought to be in a bid to compete with the almighty Facebook).
‘The social network’ movie added to the hype around Facebook, and it was named No. 2 ‘hit product’ of 2011.

The beginning of the year saw Japanese social media sites streaking ahead of Facebook, the last quarter saw Miki surpassed with around 11 million users.
2011 also saw another major partnership formed between Google+ and Pop Idol’s AKB48.
But social media really came to the forefront in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami disaster in March 2011.

Within hours of the natural disaster devastating Japan, many people were able to find each other via social media sites.
Social Media also kept the world, as well as Japan, up to date with breaking news and co-ordinate volunteers.

Following the disaster, new users continued to use social media for more social and recreational activities.
And in December Japan gained the record for tweets-per-second during a TV showing of anime classic ‘Laputa’.