Abstract
This article is an attempt to consider “Enjo” which happens on Japanese Websites. “Enjo” is the act of blaming and criticizing writings on a Weblog, Social Networking Service or Twitter. This has occurred frequently since Weblogs became popular in Japan. At such times, many reports of this phenomenon appear in the popular media: newspapers, magazines, portal sites and so on. However, there are few discussions of “Enjo” in academic articles. Therefore, I will explain why it takes place using a social science approach. First, I refer to previous research which was conducted within Computer Mediated Communication studies. Second, I discuss the causes of “Enjo” by explaining aspects of Japanese Web culture: one is “2-Channel” and the other is adolescent's mobile communication. Finally, drawing on my discussion of “Enjo”, I argue that the Web is an open public space which makes such phenomena possible.
