Try out social media

From 2006 to 2008, while working, I attended the Berlin School of Creative Leadership (Executive MBA). In 2007, during a digital lecture held in Chicago, Rishad Tobakowala (then CEO of interactive agency Denuo) delivered a lecture titled "Digital Tsunami."

"The digital revolution happening now engulfs everyone, regardless of age or gender," Tobakowala stated. "Clinging to past knowledge and experience makes it completely incomprehensible."

Reading this session and Mochio Umeda's "Web Evolution Theory" prompted me to start writing a blog under my real name. For the past six years, I've written daily articles without ever going viral, accumulating about 800,000 page views from 50 to 100 readers. I then followed 1,000 people on Twitter, connected with friends on Facebook, and competed for rankings and collected badges on Foursquare.

While observing who might challenge the digital Big Four—Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook—and attempt an underdog rise, the app "LINE" emerged from Japan.

I registered after learning that if smartphone or mobile users mutually approved each other, calls and messages would become free. Its core communication is one-on-one within closed relationships. It surpassed 150 million registered users across 231 countries and regions worldwide. The sheer scale is hard to grasp because it lacks the visible commercial momentum seen in Twitter or Facebook timelines.

Its popularity ignited through stickers—an evolved form of email emojis—and it has grown into a monetizable business model. By closing off communication in certain areas, it began personalizing interactions, transforming social media, originally intended for open connection. It's fascinating how Japanese specialties like manga and kawaii culture came alive in these stickers, richly and humorously expressing human emotions. LINE is a Japanese-born something new that emerged from a place I hadn't anticipated. When swept up in the digital tsunami, I use my own tactile senses to confirm my position. This reveals how to engage with something new.

Now, starting this time, "Sekai Megane" is a small column where creative directors, my colleagues at Dentsu Inc. Network, deliver something new they've discovered in their own cities and markets to our readers.
We hope it becomes a small window for observing global trends through a creative lens. We look forward to your continued reading.

(Honorifics omitted in text)