Interesting Tidbits: The App That Took Japan By Storm

Chances are you've never heard of Line if you've never traveled to Japan. Personally, I don't even have own a smart phone, so all of this is pretty much irrelevant to me - but you can expect a little bit of dismay from the locals if you tell them you don't have Line.

A Line sticker pack.

 Simply put, Line's an instant messaging application for the most part, though it also allows users to exchange photos, video, and conduct voice conversations and conference messaging too. In a nutshell, it's very similar to Skype. But what Line brought to the messaging applications scene was "stickers" - allowing users to express their emotions through original or existing character sticker sets that are easily downloadable for free or at a cost. You could, for example, download a Sponge Bob set or whatnot. And though emoticons have existed since the dawn of freaking time, stickers, which function in the exact same way, allowed for more personalized messages.

From the Line Shop. I kind of stand out from these guys.

As a matter of fact, on the grand scheme of things, Line's popularity sort of exploded over night and its growth became exponential. And though that's sort of where things are on the smartphone app development side, Line's kind of reached a whole other level. Not only do Line's original characters now have their own iOS game, but Line now has its own store in Harajuku. I dropped by to have a look, and it seems to be doing well on top of that! Just think about that for a second. How the hell did a communications application get to the point where it now manages to sell physical good? If you were to open a Skype shop, what would you even sell in it? Well, given the nature of Line and its mass appeal, it kind of figures that it would manage to market its characters using only the power of its brand. And I still can't quite wrap my head around an app turning into a brand. But it's happening.
 Does Line have a chance in the world outside of Japan? There are probably people who have a better idea of that than I do, but apparently, people are hearing of it in Korea and China, so who knows. But I do wonder if I'll ever encounter it in North America, be in this Summer when I return, or in the years to come.