Point 3: In Japan, are SNS and social media being confused?

When foreigners ask, "What's the situation with social media in Japan?", many Japanese people can probably give a rough explanation of the social media platforms and apps they commonly use. Here, I'd like to highlight some distinctive points along with things to keep in mind.

Japanese People Confusing "SNS" and "Social Media"

First, I'd like to touch on the difference between SNS and social media. Many Japanese people seem to use these terms without particularly thinking about the distinction.

Overseas, especially in English-speaking countries, the term "social media" is often used in contexts involving publishing functions like "posting," "spreading," or "sharing," while "SNS" is more commonly used when focusing on networking or messaging functions.

In Japan, however, it seems common even in news media reporting to use SNS, perhaps because writing it as three letters saves characters and is convenient.

Both Facebook and Twitter possess features of both SNS and social media. However, you rarely see native English speakers say "post on SNS" in English. They must say "post on social media" for it to be understood. YouTube is recognized in the West as a "social media platform," but it is not an SNS. When discussing social media in English with foreigners, it's important to consciously differentiate the terms.

Overseas luxury brands also communicate via LINE

According to Nielsen research, smartphone internet access surpassed PC access in Japan in September 2015. This appears to be a global trend. Data from StatCounter's Global Stats, an Irish web traffic analysis company, shows that in October 2016, smartphone and tablet internet access also surpassed desktop access worldwide.

Take a look at Japan's top 10 smartphone apps. The number one app in Japan is LINE.