I have always been aware of different kinds of online spaces but I never got the chance to further research and explore the qualities that each possess because I never really needed it unless if I have to. In this studio, students were given the chance to discover and to test out some of the forms and characteristics of online screen production to fully understand how it actually works. We learned that online screen production can be found and experienced through a variety of forms and contents in which we discussed in our class last week.

The online screen project that I found very interesting is called LINE Webtoon (formerly known as Naver Webtoon), is a South Korean global digital comics service platform. It was launched on 2004 in Korea but became globally famous in the year 2014. Webtoon is  available to read not only in web but also in different devices such as kindle, smatphones and more for free. That’s right, for FREE! There’s so many reasons why I think this platform is specifically available on web and why some of its characteristics made this webtoon stand out compare to other digital comics that can be searched online which I will discuss briefly in this blog.

Line Webtoon works like the average comic website with different genres and recommended comics for the week. Anyone (pro or amateur) who has the passion for drawing can become a creator and can publish their own works through this website for free. The best part? Their hard-work will not be in vain because there’s countless of readers who are seeking for new contents and are always ready to share the creator’s artwork through social media which makes them famous! Because of this, new business opportunities such as webtoon-based movies and merchandising are actively being produced that greatly benefits the artists.

The creators updates their work on a regular basis and it’s available in different languages such as  English and Thai which is great because the creators gain international fans. There’s a part where the readers can subscribe to their favourite artist and can leave a comment through the end of every chapters of the comics. Other online users can even communicate by replying, liking and disliking some comments.  Also, creators can upload a soundtrack in a specific chapter to evoke a certain emotions to the readers.

This kind of platform is one of the best example to engage the audience and to give them other options in accessing comics. The convenience that it provides is one of the reasons why it attracts a great number of people. Upon further researched, I learned that there’s a great number of people converting from reading comic books (hard copies) to reading online materials (soft copies) which doesn’t surprise me at all. Because of this, there’s a huge decrease of number in  publishing comic books.

As the Webtoon stated in their website (http://www.webtoons.com/en/about), “Whatever your platform, wherever you are, LINE WEBTOON is always available, and always for free. Because comics should have no boundaries”.