The owner of TikTok, ByteDance, is pushing a new app in the United States and across the globe to compete with Instagram. Let's explore what it is and if it's safe for teenagers.
If you haven't heard about Lemon8 yet...you will. This is your quick intro into the new social media app that is coming to a smartphone near you soon.
What is Lemon8?
Lemon8 isn’t the latest drink from Sonic Drive-In. It’s the newest social media app that is climbing the charts with over 17 million downloads worldwide and climbing. While the app isn’t “new” it is new to the United States market. In March 2023 Lemon8 climbed to be the #1 app on the lifestyle app charts. Influencers on TikTok and Instagram quickly jumped to the new app to “claim their handles” and started promoting the app to have their followers follow them on Lemon8.
Yeah, but what is Lemon8?
Lemon8 is a photo sharing app…mostly. You can share videos as well but as of right now the majority of the posts are photos. Think about a cross between Instagram carousels and guides combined with Pinterest. The result is very manicured and curated promotional feed. Creators and influencers post anything from bucket list destinations, to “what to wear” guides, to exercises, to recipes and more. Which all sounds good…but…is it?
How are TikTok and Lemon8 related?
Lemon8 and TikTok are sister apps. ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, yes, the same ByteDance that TikTok is in congressional hearings for due to privacy concerns over user data. The timing Lemon8’s push into the United States is curious as it comes at a time where TikTok’s future in the United States is at risk. Lemon8 can be seen as a foothold for ByteDance in the US market should something happen to TikTok.
Do I believe all of this an the data risks? I don’t know. I’m by nature not a conspiracy thearoist or into politics, so I’ll leave the debate up to you.
Why is Lemon8 getting so popular?
Well, in part, it could be related to the risk of TiikTok being cancelled in the United States. There is a push from Lemon8 to grow. The challenge is that the push comes form ByteDance. It’s not out of the ordinary for apps or any business go want to grow. That’s business. The question here is if the parent company has ulterior motives.
As part of Lemon8’s marketing push they are incentivising early creators on the app by giving them a boost on the “For You” page (yup, same concept as TikTok’s For You Page), incentivising creators as a “Rising Star”, and cross promoting the creators on TikTok. The result is a tidal wave of influencer adopting the new app and creating content.
Is my data safe on Lemon8?
Yes…errr…no…errr…who knows. The U.S. government is concerned with what information TikTok and ByteDance are sharing with the Chinese government. TikTok in the United States has started something called ‘Project Texas” to transfer all TikTok data onto servers in the US. TikTok’s goal is to gain American consumer’s confidence.
The user agreement for Lemon8 does leave a lot to question. The use agreement says “We may also share your information with other members, subsidiaries, or affiliates of our corporate group”. This statement leaves the door open for data to be sent to ByteDance. No body knows what happens to the data after that.
Is Lemon8 safe for teenagers?
The short answer, in my opinion, is no. Really it depends on your teen, their maturity, their brain, and the strength of their self-worth.
I believe that Lemon8 is already proving to not be a great place for teens, much like Instagram and TikTok. The follow are my key areas of concern:
Comparison: Lemon8 is a comparison trap for teen girls in particular. The app is filled with girls showing off perfectly curated pictures and guides. Whether it’s “booty workouts” or “Get ready with me” tutorials the app is nearly all curated pictures showcasing perfect lives. The comparison trap is one of the reasons that there has been a rise in depression and anxiety in teens and Lemon8 will only lead to more of this.
Influencers...influencing: To go along with comparison, the early adopters of the app are hungry influencers. They are people who care more about influencing, growing their digital businesses or Onlyfans pages than anything else. So they run to this new social platform to continue to focus on themselves for personal gain. The app makes no secret about being heavily a site focused on selling products. On one hand, this could be your thing and you could get great tips on how to style clothes, fix your hair, or get a great recipe, on the other hand, it's a little excessive.
The algorithm: One of the reasons TikTok is so dangerous to teens is because of the algorithm. The algorithm picks up on views, likes, hesitations, and lingers. For teen boys and girls this means that curiosities quickly become the only thing a teen sees. It’s normal for a teen boy to linger when he sees a girls dancing on TikTok. The result is that the app picks up on that…then serves him more dancing girls…and then more…until it’s the only thing in his feed. Lemon8 draws off the power of it’s sister apps algorithm. That means that very quickly the app will be inundated with the things that teen boys don’t need to be seeing.
More wasted time: Do we really need another time wasting social media app in our lives? I don’t think so. The greatest threat to the future is wasted time. Teenagers are already spending, on average, 7-9 hours on digital devices per day. It's another major reason why we have an increase in depression and anxiety amongst teens. The reality is that happiness is tied to growth, real life connection, and relationships. Lemon8 will keep teens from growth, real life connections, and relationships.
Final Thoughts
Should you or your teen download Lemon8? Great question that only you can answer. Like all apps, I think parents should download them first and learn the ins and outs. Only then would I ever let my teen have a social media app. With Lemon8 it is your choice. Like all social media there is a risk to it. Make sure that you are having all of these conversations with your teen on an ongoing bases and if you witness a change in your child's demeanor then it's time to have another talk with them.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and share to your social feed to help spread the word on what Lemon8 is.