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Line is a simple service that allows users who are registered as "friends" to send messages and talk to each other on the phone for free. Young users say the top reason for using the app is its speed; Line messages appear instantaneously on a smartphone screen in the form of speech bubbles.
"E-mailing used to be a drag. When you received a message, you had to remember what you read, then open up a new window to respond," a 21-year-old female university student says. "Line lets you read every exchange you’ve had with that person up to that point, and you can also see if the other person has read what you sent."
Virtual stickers — or large-sized emoticons — have proven attractive to users as an easy way to express nuance and emotion. A 17-year-old male high school student in Yokohama says, "I was too embarrassed to use emoticons available in text messages, but I often use the virtual stickers on Line."
Journalist Atsushi Matsumoto, who has written about youths’ use of Line, explains the difference between e-mails and the instant messaging system. "E-mails were similar to letters in that they required greetings and other formalities. But Line is more like a conversation in that it uses words and expressions."
According to Line Corp., it began operating the service in June 2011. The number of users reached 150 million at the end of April this year, of which approximately 45 million were in Japan. User ages range widely.
To use the service, you must first download the application onto a smartphone and register your name and smartphone number. If you select a setting to cross-check the address book in the smartphone, the app will list people from the address book who are also registered with Line, whom you can then send messages to or call for free. Since Line makes use of the Internet for its services, sending messages and making calls does not cost you anything except for your data plan fee.
The service can be used on regular cell phones as well, though not all functions that can be used on smartphones are available.
While there are many advantages to using Line, there are several things users must be careful of when they use the service.
The reason contacts from your address book appear on your list of Line "friends" is because part of your address book is automatically sent to a Line Corp. server when you register. The company says that because the numbers are encrypted, the company has no knowledge of the numbers it manages. However, if you feel any resistance to this arrangement, select the option not to cross-check your address book when registering with Line. You can set up an ID to use on Line instead of a phone number and distribute the ID to those you want to use the service with.
In the case that someone who has your cell phone number in their address book is using Line, you will automatically be listed as their "friend" if you are registered with Line. This means that people you don’t want knowing you use Line may appear on your "friends" list. Also, phone numbers of people that you no longer associate with but that you still had in your address book may also show up on your "friends" list.
If you want to avoid getting messages and calls from such people, you can "block" them — a move that will not be revealed to the person who is blocked. Another way to avoid becoming a "friend" of someone you don’t want to is by turning off the settings that add people automatically to your friends’ list, or that permit others to add you to their friends’ lists.
As the number of Line users has soared, there have been reported cases of female junior high and high school students being sexually assaulted by people they met using Line. In many of the cases, perpetrators were able to obtain cell phone numbers and IDs that were made public. We should be careful how we treat our personal information to enjoy the fruits of this communication tool.
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