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Welcome back to HotToks. This edition we report on ByteDance's new app Lemon8, the Hailey Bieber vs. Selena Gomez drama, & a new feature update, screen limits for teens.
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has quietly launched yet another social media app, Lemon8, described as “Instagram meets Pinterest.” While the app launched in Japan a few years back, Lemon8 just made headway in the UK and the US as of late. And for weeks, ByteDance has been paying creators in the UK to post on the app.
The picture-based app is described as a “lifestyle community,” and the feed is separated by a “Following” and a “For You” page but can be sorted into content categories like makeup, food, and fashion. There’s also an Instagram Explore page, #doop, which shows content organized by hashtags.
This reminds me of a very popular app in China called Xiaohongshu (or “Little Red Book,” aka RED). When I went to school in Shanghai, this app came in handy for its inspo-filled endless scroll of content, where I would frequently look for hotspots in the city, manicure ideas, food adventures, and the whole nine yards.
As for how creators feel, according to Insider, they mentioned how time-consuming it was to create content for Lemon8 and how much more effort is required because of the length and detail necessary in captions and posts. But if RED is any indication of success, we’d better keep our eyes peeled on Lemon8 (pun intended, always).
YOU GUYS. Get a snack; we have a lot to discuss. First of all, subscribe if you’re #TeamSelena, and if you’re not, you’re dismissed.
Before we dive in, here’s the timeline of this TikTok feud. Towards the tail-end of February, TikTok FYPs everywhere were taken over by fans on TikTok scrutinizing Hailey Bieber’s actions and her subtle shadiness towards Selena Gomez and, in general, being a ‘mean girl’ over the years. She’s had the “God’s timing,” the eyebrow lamination mishap, and the Taylor Swift defense. Because of all the resurfaced times where Hailey Bieber showed meanness towards his husband’s ex-girlfriend (on-and-off for 8 years), Because of this drama, she has now lost over 800K followers, dipping below 50M (not saying she deserved it). In contrast, Selena has gained 10M followers, becoming the most-followed woman on Instagram (but saying that God’s timing is always right). Talk about the power of #Selenators and the power of TikTok. I mean, even brands are starting to weigh in.
The shots just kept firing; fans were reminded that Justin married Hailey only months after his long-term relationship with Selena, which still doesn’t sit well with them. To make matters worse, clips have bubbled up to the surface of Hailey quite literally being one of the biggest Beliebers (and #Jelenators?) the world has ever seen—I mean, it’s literally top-notch. And not just of Justin’s. She was a stan of the #Jelena relationship. Also, some moments of Hailey saying the exact same things as Selena don’t look great for her either, making fans believe that she actually wanted to become Selena. Not her being coined “Hailey Goldberg” as a reference to Joe Goldberg from Netflix’s You.
The cherry on top? Many paparazzi videos have shown Justin Bieber seemingly not really caring about his wife (“hailey bieber paparazzi embarrassing” has 36.5M+ views on TikTok), which have since been compared to the way he was with Selena in front of paparazzi during the time they were together. At this point, it’s just comical. But I can’t stop. I’m in too deep.
As a result of the endless scroll that we’re (all) unfortunately obsessed with, TikTok is coming up with a plan to prevent teens and children on the app from endlessly scrolling.
New Feature Alert: all users under 18 will receive a screentime limit after 60 minutes of use, automatically set up by TikTok. And more time on the platform can be unlocked only with a self-set passcode. Now we all know this is not foolproof, “TikTok says that it will force teen users to make an active decision in their content consumption.” And for users under 13, a parent/guardian must set the passcode for them.
This comes as the conversation heats up because of recent federal-level commotion regarding banning access to TikTok and government officials speaking out about how the app impacts children.
Thanks for reading!
- Viv
