In the wake of recent congressional hearings questioning TikTok's CEO, many users of the popular social media app have turned to an alternative platform called Lemon8 with strikingly similar language. However, it has emerged that Lemon8 is not just a random alternative, but rather a social media platform launched in the United States earlier this year by TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance, amidst federal and state efforts to ban or restrict TikTok in the country over national security concerns. The similarities in posts comparing Lemon8 to Instagram and Pinterest, among others, have raised questions about whether influencers are being paid to promote the new app on TikTok. Despite the speculation, a growing number of US users and influencers are now eagerly touting Lemon8, with its focus on photos and highly curated, informational, or "aspirational" content.
Since its launch in February, Lemon8 has been downloaded just over one million times in the United States and had around half a million daily active US users last month, according to intelligence platform Apptopia. The early traction for Lemon8 hints at the challenge lawmakers could face in reining in TikTok and other social media platforms. ByteDance reportedly fuelled TikTok's rise by spending heavily to advertise the service on rival platforms Facebook and Snapchat. This time, however, the best place to promote the next TikTok may be on TikTok itself.
ByteDance has recently listed open jobs for Lemon8 creator partnerships roles, according to postings. Lemon8's homepage is a "for you" feed where users can scroll through content, similar to TikTok, but instead of videos, the feed is two columns of still images. The app is heavily centered on beauty and lifestyle content, and many of the posts feature lengthy captions, with users also able to edit images to include text overlays. Despite lacking some standard social platform features, such as messaging and the option to tag other users in posts, Lemon8 fills a hole in the social media ecosystem that was left when Instagram moved to prioritize short-form video content to compete with TikTok, frustrating many creators who joined the app for its original focus on photos.
Some creators suggest that Lemon8 could ultimately function as a replacement if TikTok were to get banned in the United States, protecting the content recommendation algorithm that helped make TikTok one of the country's most popular apps and launched the careers of countless influencers. However, if TikTok were to go down, Lemon8 would likely go with it, according to James Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. TikTok, for its part, maintains that its app does not pose a risk to US users, and that the Chinese government has never asked for US user data. The practical ramifications for creators of a TikTok (and, perhaps by extension, Lemon8) ban would still likely be months away, if not more.