Naver exams text-first social media with North America launch of ThingsBook

The Korean tech group is betting on curation and written expression in a market dominated by video and algorithms

Naver has launched the open beta of ThingsBook, a brand new social media platform concentrating on customers in North America, as a part of its broader effort to develop past its core search and content material companies. The service grew to become accessible on Monday (native time) and marks Naver’s newest try to construct a global-facing social platform.

In contrast to most fast-growing social networks, ThingsBook is designed round text-based user-generated content material slightly than short-form video or algorithm-driven feeds. The corporate is positioning the platform as an area for customers to doc experiences and pursuits in a extra structured and reflective manner.

A special tackle social media engagement

ThingsBook permits customers to create private collections that report their experiences with books, movies, music, journey locations, and on a regular basis life. As an alternative of encouraging fast posting or viral sharing, the platform focuses on written entries and organised curation, connecting customers by means of shared pursuits slightly than trending matters.

A sophisticated editor permits customers to complement textual content posts with photographs, location tags, scores, and hyperlinks. Whereas these options add context, Naver has saved textual content on the centre of the expertise, reflecting a deliberate shift away from video-heavy codecs that dominate platforms comparable to TikTok and Instagram.

Transferring away from the chronological feed

One of many platform’s defining options is its archival construction. Reasonably than counting on a steady, time-based feed, ThingsBook organises content material into themed collections constructed round private style and long-term information.

Naver stated this design selection is meant to help deeper documentation and repeated engagement, permitting customers to revisit and develop their collections over time. The strategy suggests a view of social media as a private data archive, not only a stream of real-time updates.

Kim Seung-eon, Naver’s world neighborhood enterprise chief, stated the launch displays the corporate’s long-standing strategy to abroad enlargement.

“Naver has constantly entered world markets with companies designed round native cultures and person traits,” Kim stated. “With ThingsBook, we purpose to construct a inventive tradition centered on information and private style by means of shut engagement with native customers.”

He added that the platform suits right into a longer-term imaginative and prescient tied to modifications in how content material is created and consumed. “By way of this world problem, we’ll proceed to lift the extent of the service to assist construct a significant content material ecosystem and neighborhood tradition fitted to the bogus intelligence period,” Kim stated.

Earlier than opening the service extra extensively, Naver operated a closed beta for 3 months beginning in October final yr. Throughout that interval, the corporate monitored usability, behaviour patterns, and have demand amongst North American customers.

Based mostly on that suggestions, Naver stated it improved service stability and refined key capabilities forward of the open beta. The phased rollout suggests a cautious strategy, with the corporate prioritising iteration over fast person development.

Linking with Naver’s current platforms

Naver additionally plans to enhance ThingsBook’s usability by integrating it with its current North American companies, together with Webtoon, Wattpad, and Band. The objective is to permit customers to doc a broad vary of experiences—from consuming digital content material to taking part in on-line communities—inside a single platform.

This integration may assist ThingsBook differentiate itself by drawing on Naver’s established content material ecosystems, slightly than competing head-on with standalone social media giants.

A check in a crowded market

With the open beta now dwell, Naver is successfully testing whether or not a text-focused, collection-driven social platform can achieve traction in North America, a market formed by brief consideration spans and video-led engagement.

The result will assist decide whether or not there’s room for various social media fashions constructed round curation and long-form expression—or whether or not person habits formed by algorithms and visible content material stay too entrenched for such an strategy to scale.