One thing I will never really get is why so many of my Korean friends ‘like’ so many things on Facebook that I could never previously conceive anybody liking. These include banks, credit card companies and telephone companies.
Cultural differences are of course just that… differences. They are often interesting and frequently funny to the persons observing them (kind of like how Koreans for some reason think the white man in the suit drinking makgeolli is a hysterically hilarious sight), but I find this particular one to be simply baffling.
As an Australian, I can’t imagine why anyone, anywhere, for any reason would ‘like’ Visa. I mean, seriously??? And ‘liking’ SK Telecom? Where I come from, the universal loathing of such institutions is a national pastime.
Over time however, expats do become used to the little differences, and eventually begin to absorb the culture of the country into their own lives. Recently I’ve noticed more of my foreign friends on the Facebook feed also ‘liking’ Visa. All of them have been in Korea a decade or more though, which seems to be about the time when people either freak out and leave the country, or resign themselves to the fact that they’ve become lifers and just decide to go native.
Good observation. One thing I have noticed about “liking” is that my Korean friends very often post a photo and then “like” their own photo.
Interesting post. I noticed the same thing. In regards to liking companies, I thought it was because there are special deals and promos and things like that which “likers” can find out about. That said I have seen some “likes” on messages like “I am having the worst day of my life” and I wondered what was going on there.
Keen to check out the rest of your blog!
it dosnt matter after over an year …but i think.. as a small country and nationalist nature of koreans is the main reason behind all this.. there brands become national brands though they are just city based. cause i consider seoul is the entire korea..other places are just means of producing food and materialistic things..as in industries. so its obvious for them to feel the brand as a famous national brand though its just limits to the city .i guess.