ByteDance Promotes Its Social Media App, Lemon8, as a Backup Plan for TikTok

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the social media giant TikTok, has been working on a backup plan in case the popular video-sharing app gets banned in the United States. The company has been promoting its new app, Lemon8, which has been described as a combination of Pinterest and branded posts on Instagram, with a greater focus on pictures and more text than TikTok.

ByteDance has been sending messages to popular social media creators inviting them to join the new platform as launching creators before its official launch in the United States. Lemon8’s goal is to become a top global social media service and replicate the success of its sister company, TikTok. Lemon8 has already been quietly introduced on app stores and has plans for a global marketing push in May to attract more users.

The app has two columns of content and is packed with product recommendations and tips, with an eye to fueling shopping. It will initially focus on topics like fashion, healthy food, and wellness. Lemon8 was introduced in Japan in April 2020 and reached five million monthly active users worldwide last year as it expanded to other countries, including Britain, Singapore, and Indonesia.

ByteDance’s recruitment effort for Lemon8 has attracted the attention of some lawmakers and regulators who have expressed similar concerns about the app’s potential national security risks, just as they did with TikTok. The concerns stem from worries that Beijing could gain access to sensitive data about the app’s users, such as location information, or that China could use Lemon8’s content recommendations for misinformation.

However, ByteDance seems undeterred in its ambitions to become one of the top makers of apps in the world, including in the United States. TikTok has amassed 150 million U.S. users, and ByteDance appears eager to replicate its success with Lemon8. Jennifer Banks, a spokeswoman for ByteDance, did not respond to questions about Lemon8 and whether the company anticipated any regulatory scrutiny.

Krishna Subramanian, a founder of the influencer marketing firm Captiv8, described Lemon8 as a combination of Pinterest and branded posts on Instagram, with a greater focus on pictures and more text than TikTok. Its “ideal creator portrait” is a 22- to 26-year-old woman in the New York or Los Angeles area with a focus on fashion or beauty, according to presentations that Lemon8 shared with marketing agencies in January. The vision for Lemon8, one page said, was “to build the most inspiring and informative platform to discover, share, and bring ideas to life.”

Lemon8’s recruitment effort is a reminder of the gap between how Washington views TikTok and ByteDance, and the perceptions of marketers and TikTok’s often young users, including creators who make money by posting there. TikTok creators are already encouraging viewers to follow them on Lemon8, attracting comments littered with lemon emojis. ByteDance also owns a popular video-editing tool called CapCut, which has become one of the top free apps on Google’s and Apple’s app-store charts.

ByteDance seems to be taking steps to prepare for the possibility of a TikTok ban in the United States by promoting its potential alternative, Lemon8. However, as with TikTok, the app is likely to face regulatory scrutiny and concerns about national security risks. Regardless, ByteDance appears eager to replicate the success of TikTok with Lemon8 and become one of the top makers of apps in the world, including in the United States.