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Perhaps an even bigger problem is that both Facebook and MySpace fail to offer an optimized version for Japanese handsets. Millions of Japanese are accustomed to using one thumb, a dialpad and a jog dial on their phones when accessing the web during their commutes to school and work. In this country, the mobile web is bigger than the PC web.

Offering a country-specific version before a local copycat beats you to it is an obvious key factor for success, and not only in Japan.

Practical experience from the Japanese web industry has shown that partnering up with a local company is the best way to diminish these dangers

“We are going to see the big social networks start to decentralize into a series of social applications across the Web,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “I think we are at the beginning of a movement and the beginning of an industry.”

For example, the mobile service company Loopt, based in Mountain View, Calif., helps people find their friends and see what they are doing on a map on their mobile phone. It will use Facebook Connect so its users do not have to re-enter their connections to the friends they want to track.

Sean Parker, a former Facebook executive who now runs Causes, said Facebook was trying to stimulate the creation of more sophisticated applications. “They are trying to evolve to a place where the right companies get funded and they launch more ambitious features on the platform,” he said.

Zuckerberg is a real leader because he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He’s going to do what he thinks is best for his business. I wish Silicon Valley had more like him.

Zuckerberg is not listening to you because you don’t get how Facebook is going to make billions. Zuckerberg is right. He shouldn’t start listening to his users now.