- ByteDance is pushing support for the new Lemon8 app despite the potential ban on TikTok in the United States.
- The Chinese tech giant's decision is seen to be a part of a business strategy.
- Analysts have argued that simply pushing out an alternative to the short-form video hosting service is not the best solution
ByteDance, a Chinese tech company, is pushing support for a new social media application in the United States, known as Lemon8, amid concerns that its flagship app, TikTok, could be banned in the country.
While the push for the new app could be considered as part of a business strategy for ByteDance, simply replacing TikTok is not the best solution, said analysts. Senior fellow for emerging tech at the German Marshall Fund, Lindsay Gorman, said that the timing was certainly "interesting."
ByteDance's New Lemon8 App
She noted that the Chinese tech giant seems to be pushing the new app Lemon8 as a potential alternative to its TikTok app. The situation comes after ByteDance invited creators in March to try its new Lemon8 platform before the app is officially rolled out in the US, as per CNBC.
The new app is seen as a combination of Instagram and Pinterest and was first launched in Japan in early 2020. The lifestyle app focuses on health, wellness, and beauty and has rapidly become one of the top apps in the United States.
Data.ai, an analytics firm, said that Lemon8 jumped a massive 693 positions in order to become the second-most-downloaded lifestyle app in the US in the past 30 days. It was able to push down real estate marketplace Zillow to third place while only lagging behind Pinterest.
ByteDance's new app has accumulated 17 million global downloads since its initial launch. A senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Glenn Gerstell, said that some of the algorithms that Lemon8 uses are similar or the same as the recommended algorithms used in the Chinese tech giant's flagship app, TikTok.
Potential US Ban on TikTok
Lemon8 provides users with photo and video-sharing capabilities and argued that its platform was meant for a "youthful community." Based on its app store description, it is a place for "young creatives to share a diversity of content from fashion, makeup, food and travel to homeware, pets, and anything else you can imagine," according to PrestigeOnline.
ByteDance's new app alleged plans to compete with China's own lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, which has become relatively popular as Red in several countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Lemon8 reportedly paid famous influencers to invite new users to the platform by creating content in exchange for financial compensation. However, the app allegedly requires them to follow certain guidelines, including having 10 posts monthly that have captions of more than 150 words, among others.
The situation comes as US officials have raised concerns that TikTok poses a national security threat to the American government. This is due to how the People's Republic of China could use the app to gather personal data and information from users living in the United States, said the New York Times.
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