Teen Influencers' Smartphone Culture

He also seemed very interested in entrepreneurship, reading publications like Toyo Keizai and The Economist (a British newspaper), making him a hyper-aware high schooler. He effortlessly used difficult foreign terms during the interview, which was truly surprising...!

He's a high school boy with a high teen influencer status, boasting many followers on social media.

For example, he manages multiple Twitter accounts efficiently, using them for different purposes like gathering information or connecting with friends and fans.

What stood out was his fan symbol. He includes a "leaf mark (will add later)" in his account name, and his fans mimic this by adding it to their own account names or profiles. This functions as a secret sign within SNS, connecting users and creating a pseudo-community among his fans.

I found it fascinating how they achieve functionality not built into the app itself through their own ingenuity.

He also mentioned other apps he's watching, like TikTok and musical.ly, which are short lip-sync apps. These apps let you lip-sync to 15-second songs. Users apparently share these creations on MixChannel too.

I myself will continue to watch these short-lip-sync apps closely in 2018. I believe we need to see them not just as another "video" format, but as a way to share moods.

Whether it's TV or AbemaTV, what people want is reality.

C-san loves dancing and works hard in her club activities, yet she also enjoys makeup and cosmetics, embodying the distinct personality of a modern girl.

She uses Instagram, of course, but also Snapchat, often sharing via Stories and enjoying viewing her friends' posts. Snapchat's editing features are fun, and she still uses it.

What's great about these apps is that they really shine when you can't wear makeup, like at school. It's not about relying on them constantly, but using them to the fullest in situations where makeup isn't possible. I thought this was a unique insight specific to high school students.

She mentioned that when buying or using cosmetics, she relies on YouTubers for reference. While Instagrammers are good too, she often turns to YouTubers. She values their detailed explanations and the fact they'll also mention the negative aspects of products she's interested in.

This likely relates to the high affinity with the video generation.

She also mentioned frequently watching AbemaTV. Why? To put it simply: "Because it has reality." She cited reality shows themed around young people's relationships and unedited live broadcasts.

Conversely, it was striking to hear that TV feels a bit lacking in that regard.

However, on the other hand, television has an official feel, a sense of endorsement, and seems to be positioned as something you watch to learn about what's happening in society through the news.

Three things revealed by the smartphone lives of these three individuals

(1) Teens invent new ways to connect

First, a commonality: SNS was indispensable in the smartphone lives of teen influencers. Instagram was a vital source of information, used to decide where to go on their next day off or which shops to visit with friends.

During these interviews, we also frequently heard, "We take food photos with Foodie." This ties into discussions about Instagrammable aesthetics designed for sharing.

While popular apps like Instagram and YouTube are becoming established, we also confirmed the spread of new forms of visual communication, such as short lip-sync apps like TikTok and musical.ly.

Furthermore, a culture of teens building unique connections through "favorite marks" was observed.

This is precisely what can be called smartphone culture.

(2) Shopping: Moving Beyond E-Commerce to Smartphone Optimization

Another key observation is how smartphone adoption has dramatically transformed shopping habits.

It seems we've moved beyond the phase of e-commerce convenience—where you can easily buy what you want online—and are now transitioning to the next step: smartphone optimization.

The proliferation of smartphone commerce apps, exemplified by Mercari, is increasingly enabling the entire process of buying goods to be completed within a Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) framework. Furthermore, as the cost of exchanging goods decreases, the replacement cycle appears to be shortening accordingly.

This led me to hypothesize: Just as smartphones have made users more short-attention-spanned, is the period we actually own and enjoy things also becoming shorter?

(3) The Balance of Connect / Cut

Finally, I'd like to mention that, conversely, there are also voices advocating for consciously creating offline time. Deliberately turning off smartphones to binge-read manga or watch video content... Surprisingly, it seems that "time without smartphones" is also being valued.

Time spent disconnecting from social media to build one's own worldview. This balance between Connect and Cut is arguably the essential requirement of today's teen influencer smartphone culture.

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