Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Naver launches open beta of new social media platform in North America
A poster for Naver's new social platform ThingsBook / Courtesy of Naver
By Lee Gyu-lee
Naver launched the open beta of its new user-generated content (UGC) platform, ThingsBook on Monday (local time), targeting the North American market.
ThingsBook is a text-based social platform for users to create personal collections that thoughtfully document their experiences with movies, books, music, travel destinations and daily life while connecting and communicating with others who share similar interests.
The platform also offers an advanced editor that allows users to enrich their text-based posts with images, locations, ratings and links, helping them better express their experiences and perspectives.
“Naver has consistently ventured into overseas markets with global strategies tailored to local cultures and user characteristics. With ThingsBook as well, we aim to establish it as a platform that works closely with local users to build a creative culture centered on records and personal taste,” Kim Seung-eon, Naver’s global community business leader, said.
“Through this global challenge, we will continue to raise the level of the service to help build a meaningful content ecosystem and community culture suited for the artificial intelligence (AI) era.”
ThingsBook uses an archival structure where personal preferences are organized into curated collections rather than in a typical chronological feed structure, enabling users to manage their records systematically.
Naver ran a closed beta for three months starting last October, closely monitoring usage patterns and needs of North American users. Based on extensive feedback collected during that period, the company improved service stability and key functions, and aims to further enhance the platform with a broader user base from the open beta.
Naver also plans to improve usability by linking ThingsBook with its existing North American platforms, including Webtoon, Wattpad and Band, allowing users to document a wide range of experiences from content consumption to community engagement in a single space.