“Lemon8” is the latest social media app offered by Byte Dance, the Chinese company that developed TikTok. Lemon8 finds itself in the center of controversy because of the sudden rise in fame. The app has been rising through the ranks on both the Google Play & Apple App Stores. The app is currently ranked at number 8 in the USA in the “lifestyle” category.
Marketed to teenagers, mainly through TikTok ads, the app is an Instagram-type platform, but it encourages longer-form Content. Content on the app is sectioned by category, & the categories such as beauty, fashion, food, wellness, & travel, are aimed at capturing the Online market in much the same way as Pinterest does.
The app is available in multiple countries worldwide on the Google Play Store, but many locations are missing on the Apple App Store.
Although it has been around since 20202, this little-known app has suddenly gained traction, especially in the US, with allegations of paid user acquisition efforts powering this surge. So much so that today the Lemon8 app is ranking in the top 200 overall charts in the US, & hit the No: 1 rank on the App Store’s lifestyle chart.
What Is All The Controversy Around Lemon8?
Users can create text, upload & edit photos & videos. Lemon8 also provides a suite of stickers to add to photos & videos. In fact, a complete editing environment on the app means that photos/videos do not need to be edited on a separate app — they even provide a diverse set of templates to make Content creation a breeze.
Users can share Content across the Internet, follow each other, & comment on posts in much the same way as interaction occurs on Instagram. Hashtag tagging is encouraged, & users can search the app using these tags or by using keywords. An on-app algorithm personalizes users’ feeds’ under the “For You” category, which makes it easy to discover fresh content.
There are many reports that the Chinese company behind Lemon8 is paying social media influencers to provide Content for the app. These influencers are also being paid to share their Content across the Internet to build up hype for the platform.
Byte Dance is currently facing a possible ban on their star app TikTok in the USA, which might have something to do with the intensive way they’re advertising Lemon8.
Image credit: Lemon8
