Line (Application)
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Line (known as LINE) is a free, instant messaging application that supports sharing of pictures & videos, stickers, voice & video calls. It is available on mobile devices and PCs. Particularly popular in East Asia, it boasts having over 600 million users across the globe [1] and 216 million monthly users. Line makes most of its revenue on its stickers services.
As of February 2016, LINE is the fastest-growing global social media.[2]. During Q4 of 2015, LINE had a monthly user count of 215 million users. It is often compared to KakaoTalk, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. As of February 2016, the application has surpassed its competitors to being the most commonly used mobile application in Taiwan [3]. The popularity of LINE reflects the general increase in social media and communication technologies on mobile devices.
Through the application, users can purchase stickers and themes.
History
LINE was created under and owned by the South Korean company Naver Corporation. However, LINE is based in Japan, where it first introduced the mobile device to the market.
In July 2014, Naver corporation introduced LINE to the global market.[4] This was partially due to the success the Naver search engine found after becoming more popular than Google's service.
During the Tohoku tsunami and earthquake, many telecommunication channels were down. LINE played a role in allowing people to communicate through Wifi services still in tact.[5]
On February 10th, 2016, Naver won the right to own the domain name "www.line.co.kr", after court ruling that the opposing party was misusing the site. [6]
Features
Line's sticker store also has content from official and unofficial artists. The LINE sticker characters include Brown, Cony, Moon, and James, and are often depicted in amusing situations.[7]
Over the years, LINE has added several different features and has grown immensely. LINE introduced end to end message encryption to better support the needs of its users.[8] In February 2016, LINE introduced a partnership with the Indonesian motorcycle taxi company, Go-Jek, allowing users to order taxis through the application [9].
Ethical Issues
Line's sticker store contains products from artists and designers from all over the world. These stickers include themes with LGBT characters. The Indonesian president's, Joko Widodo, administration required messaging apps to remove these stickers on their site.[10]
In July 2015, the Chinese government blocked Line from its market. However, much of its merchandise can be purchased at SOHO, a Chinese department store.[11]
Popular Culture
References
- ↑ LINE in Google Store
- ↑ Line is The Wall Street Journal's fastest-growing platform
- ↑ Line tops III app usage survey in Taiwan
- ↑ After beating Google, Korea's Naver goes global with messaging app Line
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Naver wins suit over domain name ‘www.line.co.kr’
- ↑ LINE Official Characters
- ↑ Line Adds End-To-End Encryption To Its Mobile Messaging App
- ↑ You Can Now Hail A Go-Jek Taxi From The Line App
- ↑ Whatsapp, Line warned over same-sex emoticons in Indonesia
- ↑ One year after the government banned its chat app, Line is still in China—selling lattes and tote bags
