In February this year, as U.S. lawmakers debated a ban on TikTok, its Chinese parent company ByteDanceByteDanceByteDance is a Chinese internet technology company that owns TikTok and Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok with a successful e-commerce arm.READ MORE quietly launched new social media app Lemon8 in the country. On TikTok, creators eagerly discussed the new app’s arrival through the hashtag #Lemon8, which currently has 3.8 billion views. By the end of March, Lemon8 skyrocketed to the top 10 most downloaded apps on Apple’s App Store in the U.S.
But after the initial buzz, Lemon8’s popularity has dipped in recent months. Since April, the app’s daily active users have nearly halved from 11,930 to 6,360, and by the end of May, daily downloads fell to 6.7% of its March peak, according to data intelligence firm Similarweb. Users complain that Lemon8’s content feels repetitive and overly curated, presenting idealized lifestyles that prioritize influencers’ interests over those of ordinary users.
Allison Thompkins, 25, a marketing professional in the U.S., told Rest of World she started using Lemon8 in April after learning about it on Instagram, but was quickly disappointed. “It reminded me of early Pinterest days when it was mostly just skinny white women posting about their lifestyles,” Thompkins said.
Often described as a cross between Pinterest and Instagram, Lemon8 features two side-by-side vertical feeds where users can post images and videos, and adorn them with in-app templates and stickers. Content is sorted across seven categories: food, wellness, beauty, fashion, travel, home, and productivity. Popular post titles include “The time I realized skinny privilege is real,” “That Christian girl in 40 days,” and “Hot Girl Lunch Ideas.”
Lemon8 has also been compared to Xiaohongshu, the Chinese social media and e-commerce platform with over 200 million monthly active users, known as the country’s “lifestyle bible.” According to Rui Ma, a tech investor and consultant (who has contributed to Rest of World), ByteDance saw Lemon8 as an opportunity to replicate Xiaohongshu’s domestic success in the global market, which lacked a social media platform focused on shared consumption interests.
But just as users have complained that Xiaohongshu creates unrealistic expectations, especially for women, Lemon8 has drawn criticism for presenting idealized lifestyles. “Every time I refresh the ‘For You’ section, everything is so well-curated and pretty. It’s already exhausting,” a user named Dreamlikediana posted on the app.
Lemon8 is “too crafted and curated to the point of blandness,” Natalia Corbo, a consultant based in Washington, D.C., told Rest of World. More niche subcultures such as “cottagecore” and “dark academia” get little traction on the app, she said, compared to more mainstream topics like healthy diet plans, Protestant Christian content, and New York City tourist spots.
“It felt like an app by creators for creators,” said Thompkins. “Everyone that is posting there or commenting there was a content creator of some form.” Lemon8 “doesn’t feel like it’s set up for real conversations,” Heaven Taylor-Wynn, a 24-year old communications consultant, told Rest of World. “If I was not a content creator, I wouldn’t know what to contribute and wouldn’t feel welcomed.”
In March, Lemon8 started reaching out to lifestyle influencers on TikTok and Instagram, encouraging them to post on the platform through paid content campaigns. One Lemon8 advertisement posted on Cohley, a content marketing platform, targeted U.S.-based women aged 18–25 years, who had an “It Girl” aesthetic and a track record of producing “high-quality” fashion and beauty-related content. It offered creators $45 per post. Another Lemon8 ad, on student gig work platform UniTaskr, offered £40 per post.
According to an email sent to TikTok creators by a third-party marketing agency representing Lemon8, reviewed by Rest of World, the company has also promised guidance and exposure for partnered creators. “We will assist you with detailed guidance, offer you in-app & out-of-app exposure to grow your followers, so you become a big influencer, and channel you to great commercialization opportunities,” the email reads.
Despite Lemon8’s status as TikTok’s sister app and a similar For You page that displays recommended content, some users find its algorithm lacking. Emily Hessney Lynch, 32, a social media consultant based in Rochester, New York, told Rest of World that Lemon8 was not as good as TikTok at gauging which content she wanted to see. “I mostly get Bible content from religious people and weight loss tips, and I’m not interested in either of those,” she said.
It felt like an app by creators for creators.”
Hessney Lynch said she would not recommend Lemon8 to her clients who want to build a brand on social media, because the app does not allow users to post external links. “I don’t know how you would get people outside of the app to buy something,” she said.
Lemon8 users have commented on the declining engagement and activity on the platform itself. “I was scrolling for like an hour last night and 90% of the posts I was clicking on were from months ago,” a Lemon8 user named Em wrote in a post. “Idk what’s going on but I’ve been seeing A LOT of posts saying ‘Is Lemon8 dead?’ and I’m over here like, didn’t this app JUST come out?” posted a user named MarissaKCreates.
Despite losing users, ByteDance has continued to expand the platform and ramp up outreach. The company posted eight new job listings for Lemon8 on its U.S. and U.K. websites — seven of those are “Creator Partnership Associate” roles. One job highlights “Reading,” a new content category added to Lemon8’s main tabs.
Thompkins, the marketing professional, said she might give the app another try, but only if it introduces a “hide similar content” button. Right now, her feed is populated with tips for aspiring lifestyle influencers, which she does not want to see. “I am seeing the same thing in my feed over and over, and it’s just not a good user experience for me,” she said.
