Communication app Line tops Japan’s social media usage: survey

TOKYO — Among the various social media services available, the communication app Line is by far the most popular in Japan, according to a survey conducted by a consulting firm.

JTB Tourism Research & Consulting Co., based in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, on Jan. 16 released the results of its fiscal 2023 survey on smartphone use and travel consumption, which showed a clear divide between the popularity of each social media platform.

The survey was conducted online in November 2023 among 1,030 men and women aged 18 to 69 who have smartphones for private use and who had made at least one domestic trip within the past year. It was the eighth time such a survey was conducted and the first of its kind in four years.

When asked about the social media and video posting services they use on their smartphones, with multiple responses permitted, Line topped the list at 89.5%, almost the same level as in the 2019 survey, which recorded a usage rate of 89.6%. More than 80% of both men and women of all ages used Line.

In second place was YouTube at 71.1%, up 6.9 percentage points from 2019. The increase was particularly high among men in their 30s, and among women under 30, as well as women in their 40s and 50s.

This was followed by Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) with nearly identical usage percentages of 50.6% and 50.3%, respectively. Instagram increased by 11.9 points compared to the previous survey in 2019. Among all generations of women, and among men under 30, as well as those in their 30s and 60s, usage of Instagram increased by more than 10 points, indicating that its popularity is spreading beyond generations. Meanwhile, X usage increased by 8.7 percentage points compared to the 2019 survey. Usage among men aged 29 and under, those in their 30s and 40s, and women in their 30s grew by more than 10 percentage points.

For Line and Instagram, female usage exceeded male usage for all generations, while for X, males outnumbered females for all generations.

Facebook, on the other hand, marked a decline, with its usage rate dropping from 37.3% in the 2019 survey to 25.2% in the latest poll. Usage rates for both men and women dropped among many age groups.

The video posting app TikTok had a 17.7% usage rate. Although not as high as others, this figure is up 13.6 points from 2019, indicating a certain level of popularity. TikTok had the highest usage rate among both men and women aged under 30, both exceeding 30%.

(Japanese original by Tsuyoshi Goto, Business News Department)