When life gives you lemons, make Lemon8? Today we're breaking down the details of the new photo and video lifestyle app Lemon8 from ByteDance, TikTok's parent company.
ByteDance has recently been pushing Lemon8 in the U.S. and U.K., but it has existed in other countries like Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand since 2020. Some have speculated whether this push is just an attempt to distract from the U.S. Congress's current effort to ban TikTok. Whether the excitement is real or just a conspiracy (as one content creator has called it), it sure has gotten many people talking and downloading.
At the time of writing, Lemon8 is the number one most downloaded lifestyle app in the App Store, just above Pinterest. The app has received around 16 million downloads worldwide, according to Apptopia, with Japan as its largest market. In the U.S., there are about 4 million active users.
When you download the app, you're prompted to add your birthday and pronouns and then choose Interests. The options are pretty limited; you can choose from fashion, makeup, skincare, food, wellness, bags, accessories, travel, perfume, nail, home, and pets.
You can then create an account and set up your profile. Besides the feature of having both For You and Following pages, there aren't many direct similarities to TikTok. The interface is more similar to Pinterest, with a scrolling page of photos, carousels, and videos.
One eye-catching feature is the stylish text and stickers you can add to photos and videos in-app. After a quick scroll on the For You page, you can see tons of Get Ready With Mes, how-tos, recipes, and fashion inspo. Many posts include affiliate links and location tags. Like any social media platform, you can like, comment, share, and save.
There's also a search page that shows you Editor's Picks and the top trending hashtags.
The app reminds us more of Pinterest than of TikTok, at least for now. The content is mostly lifestyle-inspired, lacking the newsworthy, humorous, random content that is abundant on TikTok. This may be the primary purpose of the app, drawing lifestyle lovers and creators from other platforms. In fact, Lemon8 is reportedly even paying content creators to post on Lemon8 if they follow guidelines like creating a set amount of posts in a month.
While it seems the app hasn't gained enough traction or virality yet (even the top posts don't get much engagement), we see real potential for brands to join the app in the future. This could be a great place for clothing, makeup, skincare, and home brands to make their mark.
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