Ishii, Kenichi, and Morihiro Ogasahara. "Links between real and virtual networks: A comparative study of online communities in Japan and Korea." CyberPsychology & Behavior 10.2 (2006): 252-257.

This study investigates the impact of online communities on real-world personal relationships through a survey in Japan and Korea. It finds that online communities, differentiated into real-group-based and virtual-network-based, influence social participation differently across cultures. Real-group-based communities are linked to social bonding in Korea, where users show a preference for such communities and a higher level of socializing gratifications compared to Japanese users who favor virtual-network-based communities. The study concludes that the role of online communities in real-world relationships is culture-specific, with a more significant impact observed in Korea than in Japan.