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The story
A thread starter’s question — “I’ve genuinely never used either X or LINE, but do I actually need them?” — split opinion on the Nanimo Jikkyo (Live/News Commentary) board. Against the poster’s own stance of “it’s fine not to use them” and “I’m not struggling at all,” other users fired back with “it’s the people around you who end up struggling” and “it makes group messages more of a hassle,” pointing out that even if the person themselves isn’t inconvenienced, everyone around them is. The discussion then spread further, touching on otaku culture during the flip-phone-to-smartphone transition, a real example of an older coworker who refuses LINE at work and only accepts paper documents, and a generational divide in which younger people don’t even exchange phone numbers anymore, staying connected purely through Instagram DMs.
What people said
If anything, there are upsides to NOT using them
Like what, specifically?
Re: #3
I'm not having any problems
That just means I don't have people like that around me, right?
Then no problem
Huh? I use regular email just fine
When you want to send a message to everyone at once, you could just send it to the group — but if someone doesn't use LINE, it creates extra hassle
It's no hassle for me though
Seems fine to me
This kind of thing used to happen a lot with annoying otaku types back when everyone was switching from flip phones to smartphones
Everyone else is connected through LINE or some other app, and you're the one lone holdout making things messy and annoying
People rarely call this out because guys who can't read the room like this tend to get defensive and snap back, so the people around them just quietly suffer — it's kind of sad
Even if YOU'RE fine with it, the people around you aren't — if you can't sense that without being told, you're done for
Then just don't send it to them, lol
so it might be worth at least having LINE installed, just in case
You're not getting the point at all, lol
It's free, which is exactly why it's scary, so no thanks
Re: #22
You're the one not getting it
Stuff like X or LINE (lol) — you really don't need that junk
Morals?
That's just YOUR idea of morals, isn't it?
Nah, it's not sarcasm or anything
I just don't need it
Me personally
Isn't a smartphone basically a phone?
The type with no family at all is probably the one posting this stuff in Yahoo News comments
With friends it's email
(LINE is dangerous, after all)
So you do have people to email, at least
Well, if that works for you, then I guess you don't need LINE
Though plenty of people are mostly on Instagram these days
I've got about 3 friends, I guess!
Do I even have that many? (lol)
There was a time when LINE got so widespread that people started saying young folks don't even exchange phone numbers anymore. But now it's gone even further — they trade Instagram handles instead, so it's totally normal to not know someone's phone number OR their LINE
It kind of feels like LINE has taken over the role phone numbers and carrier email used to have, and now it's being replaced in turn
If anything, that few friends means less hassle overall
Well, if someone can't deal with it, they'll just drift away on their own — so I guess if you say you're not bothered, you probably really aren't
Exactly
People who are going to drift away will drift away anyway
And being 'connected' through social media (lol)?
That's a little hard to trust, honestly
So THAT'S what's wrong with you! (lol)
I'm not bothered by that myself, but if you want to have a normal social life these days, I'd think you actually need them quite a bit
It's banned at my company, you know
I wonder when he'll realize that (lol)
I actually agree with that part
I have an account but I've never once posted on X
Instagram and LINE, though, I use with close friends and family
Email attachments, basically
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
LINE launched in 2011 under NAVER (now LINE Yahoo) and has since become firmly established in Japan as the standard way people stay in touch one-on-one, with government agencies and companies also using it for notifications. The thread’s disagreement came down to a difference in perspective — whether the user themselves is inconvenienced versus whether the people around them are. The discussion kept talking past itself, with the original poster insisting “I’m not having any problems” while others complained that it makes group communication more of a hassle. There was also a notable point that “young people today don’t even exchange phone numbers or LINE IDs anymore — they connect purely through Instagram DMs,” which points to a generational shift where the dominant means of communication is moving on even from LINE itself. That nuance — that LINE isn’t really a simple “use it or don’t” question anymore — is useful background that doesn’t come through from the thread exchange alone.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nanimo Jikkyo G) thread “Do I actually need X or LINE? I’ve genuinely never used either.”
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