Naver announced on the 26th that it will launch a new open community service, Lounge, where users can freely discuss a variety of topics and get a glimpse of the latest trends. The Lounge is scheduled to officially launch on January 28th of next year, and Naver is recruiting 500 official supporters, known as Lounge Mates, to help kickstart the service.
Lounge is an open community service developed by Naver based on its operational experience and technological expertise, accumulated over 20 years through various UGC services, including the Knowledge iN blog and cafe. Anyone can use it without a separate registration process, and it's designed to facilitate user-to-user communication on a wide range of topics, including entertainment, sports, humor, and daily life. Each topic-specific bulletin board features an automatically integrated Open Talk feature, enabling posts, comments, and even real-time conversations.
Naver plans to expand the user experience by organically connecting the Lounge to existing services. The idea is to provide an experience where users can explore topics of interest in the integrated search, home feed, topic feed, and Knowledge iN, then naturally move to the Lounge to leave comments and engage in conversations with other users. This strategy aims to create an environment where information exploration and community participation are not separate but rather seamlessly integrated.
Lounge mates recruited prior to the service launch will work within the lounge for six months. Applications are accepted through the lounge's official blog until January 4th of next year, and selected supporters will begin their work in February of next year. Various benefits, including Naver Pay points, will be provided during the period of service.
