Without Line

[User#6246]

Am I the only guy without line in japan? I think it's not a necessity. Am I missing out on something. If that's where the action is I might as well sign up. If it's like skype I will consider it. I don't buy into that social media bullshit frenzy it's a shallow culture and not my thing. That's for non-sensical humanoids who are pretending to socialize through a screen on a phone.

 

[meiji]

It's like Skype in some ways. It's more used as a replacement for texting and sending photos.

That's for non-sensical humanoids who are pretending to socialize through a screen on a phone.

Welcome to Japan, I guess.

 

[TAG Manager]

Am I the only guy without line in japan? I think it's not a necessity. Am I missing out on something. If that's where the action is I might as well sign up. If it's like skype I will consider it. I don't buy into that social media bullshit frenzy it's a shallow culture and not my thing. That's for non-sensical humanoids who are pretending to socialize through a screen on a phone.

It's not necessary, but it opens a lot of easy doors.

 

[Wwanderer]

Definitely not a necessity but also definitely very very very useful, especially for np4p and sugar dating purposes.

LINE is a powerful communication tool; whether or not the content is shallow depends on the users. I use it for everything from the shallowest possible flirting to interactions of deep personal emotional significance to discussions of esoteric and technical scientific topics, as well as for figuring out where to meet for lunch.

-Ww

 

[Ladylisa]

I never use Line - just email ... Though I may have some very special friends that I text with.

 

[John Chavers]

I never use Line - just email ... Though I may have some very special friends that I text with.

You're a woman. Require the men to use smoke signals, and they will do it.

 

[Ladylisa]

You're a woman. Require the men to use smoke signals, and they will do it.

True

I have been hassled for Line, but the kind of guys that I want to be involved with accept email only communication very graciously.

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

To the OP, there may be some ladies still working with smoke signals , but in my experience LINE in Japan has pretty much replaced the cell phone. You don't exchange phone numbers anymore, but line.
If you aim for 40+ mail my do, but otherwise you will probably miss quite a few opportunities cause you can't exchange contacts.
LINE is a mix of Skype and FB, but with much better privacy (those of you who never digged that deep, there indeed exists something like a home page with a time line).
Part of their business model is selling all sorts of emoticons etc. and judging by what my Japanese friends send all the time they must make a fortune

 

[John Chavers]

they must make a fortune

They do.

 

[Wwanderer]

If you aim for 40+ mail my do, but otherwise you will probably miss quite a few opportunities cause you can't exchange contacts.

This is precisely my experience in both regards:

In my Tokyo social circles, I can think of only one person over 40 (other than myself) who uses LINE heavily, and most in the group do not use it at all or use it exclusively to communicate with their children. Furthermore I can think of only one person under 40 (who has spent any significant time in Japan) who does not rely heavily on it.

Fwiiw, I am old enough to recall quite similar discussions between those who were enthusuiasts of email and those who felt that it had little advantage over postal mail...also a division along lines of age for the most part at the time. Also the period when mobile phones and then smart phones were gaining popularity saw similar conversations.

And it was indeed the missed opportunities that persuaded me to give LINE a try. Doing so had a HUGE impact on my success in making and developing/maintaining connections with the under 30 crowd.

Btw, outside Japan and East Asia, other similar apps such as Whatsapp play roles similar to that of LINE in Japan.

-Ww

 

[Serenity Now]

I am also a 40+ Line user. An essential texting app in Japan.

Kakoa Talk is Korea's equivalent to Line, same parent company I think.

 

[Wwanderer]

I am also a 40+ Line user.

I guess I could be called 40++ or even 40+++ !

It may seem odd, but I actually got a compliment from a darling 20-something SB re LINE usage a few months ago. She said something like, "You are amazing! I can't believe someone your age can use stickers so well." Or maybe the adverb was "fluently" or "naturally"...something like that.

It may seem (and probably is) a small thing, but young people seem to appreciate it sincerely when you are willing to meet them on their own (electronic) turf. I think they perceive it as indicating respect for them and their subculture (which I do, in fact).

-Ww

 

[Serenity Now]

Got to love the stickers...

 

[Sudsy]

In my Tokyo social circles, I can think of only one person over 40 (other than myself) who uses LINE heavily, and most in the group do not use it at all or use it exclusively to communicate with their children. Furthermore I can think of only one person under 40 (who has spent any significant time in Japan) who does not rely heavily on it.

I use LINE quite a lot and am well past 40, but as you observe, most of my LINE contacts are in their 20s and 30s. I don't think it's as much of an age thing as it is an indication of how socially active the person is. Most of my friends and colleagues that are my age are also married with younger children and spend their evenings and weekends with family, negating the need for mobile social accounts to a large degree.

 

[Ladylisa]

Hmm... I prefer western men, so perhaps that's why line hasn't been that important
With long term women friends we just communicate how we always do - but yes I've met some women playmates recently who communicate with line.

 

[Wwanderer]

I use LINE quite a lot and am well past 40, but as you observe, most of my LINE contacts are in their 20s and 30s. I don't think it's as much of an age thing as it is an indication of how socially active the person is. Most of my friends and colleagues that are my age are also married with younger children and spend their evenings and weekends with family, negating the need for mobile social accounts to a large degree.

I'd stand by the claim that it is largely an age thing and that even among single and very social people the fraction using LINE declines steeply with age, and as you note, older folks who use LINE often use it mostly or exclusively for communicating with people under 40.

At the other extreme, those I know in their late teens and early 20s (which are quite a few) often rely on LINE to the near exclusion of email and even mobile phone calls (as noted by @RandomTokyoGuy above). They are like, "Oh, you want to email me...? Yeah, I think I have heard of that. I might already have an address if I can find it again" or "Please LINE me when you send an email so I know to look for it?"

-Ww

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

@Sudsy
I think the reason why around 40 seems to be a barrier for the penetration of LINE is that those people spend all their school, university and young adult life without LINE. Basically the times when you mostly for your social circles and peer pressure will almost inevitably force you towards LINE happened before its existence or at least its rise to popularity.

You are of course right, if someone is still very active socially, they are more likely to pick it up at a later age too.

And yes, other regions have other apps. In Europe it's WhatsApp and I lived very long without it until my expanding social network and the inflexibility of some people to change to LINE made me use it.

 

[User#6246]

I'm old fashioned and old school I still believe in making friends in a record store and things of that nature. Yeah, I do e-mail and sometimes text messaging with my non-line phone (because it doesn't support it). This way when people do try to connect there is effort and there is something about that that is never lost. My e-mail makes that sound "You've got mail . . . . "

 

[Wwanderer]

@turnonthegrind - In your OP:

Am I missing out on something. If that's where the action is I might as well sign up. If it's like skype I will consider it.

It sounded (to me) like you were asking a practical, results-oriented question about the usefulness of a particular communications app (among many), but now you say:

I'm old fashioned and old school I still believe in making friends in a record store and ...

And it sounds like it is, in some strange (to me) way, an issue of almost philosophical principle to you, perhaps even a moral or ethical matter in which your personal normative values play an important role.

In the former sense, I'd say that you should give LINE a *real* and honest trial. There is plenty of testimony in this thread and elsewhere that it is a useful and indeed powerful tool in social life in Japan. It is precisely where much of the action resides in Tokyo, especially among the under 40 crowd.

In the latter case, I'd say to give it a pass by all means. While useful, it is not important enough (imo) to justify compromising your deep personal values or views on how to live or socialize "properly".

It is as though you first asked us whether or not, say, Google Map is a handy way to find your way around Tokyo, but then when told that it is, you replied that you think it somehow more virtuous to rely on old-school paper maps and asking for directions at the koban.

Whatever...

-Ww

 

[just4fun]

Fwiiw, I am old enough to recall quite similar discussions between those who were enthusuiasts of email and those who felt that it had little advantage over postal mail...also a division along lines of age for the most part at the time.

I remember when they laughed at the pony express.....

 

[Vancouverite]

I am 35 years old from Canada. I am used to texting a lot and prefer it to talking on the phone unless it is important or for work. Back home the majority of the service providers (mobile networks not SP's) offer unlimited texting and fairly small data packages. The first thing I noticed here when getting a phone was the amount of GB of data you can get here and the limited text service. I think people use line or other chat apps is because they don't have to go over the monthly limit of texting that is offered in the mobile plans. The chat apps use data so they don't have to worry about going over the limit and then having to pay extra for doing so.