Lemon8 overview: It’s all productiveness porn and aesthetics

TikTok launched Lemon8, a Pinterest-meets-Instagram social media platform, in the course of its ongoing combat to keep away from a ban within the U.S. Because it hit app shops within the U.S. and UK in February 2023, tens of millions of individuals have downloaded it to their telephones and cultivated a feed of aesthetically pleasing posts stuffed with productiveness suggestions, morning routines, aspect hustle recommendation, and thoroughly curated, doodle-laden picture dumps. Lemon8 is principally the anti-BeReal — however with the very same issues.

It’s a brand new solution to weblog

Meli Mae, or @meliiimae on Lemon8(opens in a brand new tab), downloaded the app in late March after seeing a TikTok video about it. She and her mates have been searching for a brand new app to advertise their podcast on, in order that they signed up.

“It took me some time as a result of I obtained a little bit intimidated by it as a result of all the things was so aesthetically pleasing,” Mae instructed Mashable. It took her a full week to craft her first put up, which she uploaded on April 6. 

Her put up was a single picture with a six-point caption(opens in a brand new tab) describing her “huge lady realizations” about “what’s lastly okay now that I’m in my 30s.” The picture is painstakingly edited to match the smooth aesthetic of the app, and the caption is so lengthy that it’s virtually harking back to a microblog. 

“There’s additionally that little Tumblr expertise the place individuals are bringing microblogging again once more,” Mae stated. “Which I actually, personally, love as a result of I really like longer posts and writing down my ideas. It’s one of many best options of the app for me. Visually, it’s very [reminiscent of] Pinterest and Instagram, however I believe the precise content material in itself… the running a blog expertise is coming again.”

It’s not a TikTok alternative

These sorts of posts are typical for Lemon8. The app permits customers to put up movies and particular person pictures with out doodles, nevertheless it’s clear from the promoted posts that meticulously edited carousels and pictures are prioritized by the app’s algorithm. Movies are virtually nowhere to be discovered within the For You feed — a pure resolution contemplating its proprietor, ByteDance, probably doesn’t need Lemon8 to be a TikTok competitor, however a captivating one throughout a time wherein each different social media platform is trying to Pivot To Video. 

Inside 48 hours of posting her first picture, Mae gained what she considers a powerful following. With 768 followers and relying on the app, she says she loves the Lemon8 expertise a lot that she doesn’t miss Instagram, which she deactivated earlier within the 12 months as a result of it’s “so cringy to put up on.” 

“As a result of individuals I do know in actual life comply with me [on Instagram],” Mae defined. “However on Lemon8, it’s individuals which might be like-minded however don’t truly know you. So there’s that veil of anonymity. Individuals have the liberty to remark however genuinely, authentically need to get to know you as a result of it’s this new platform. We need to create extra of a constructive environment.”

Lemon8 arrives amidst a storm of recent apps designed to switch Instagram, Fb, and, sure, even TikTok. Vice’s i-D(opens in a brand new tab) described these new apps — together with Geneva, Diem, Melon, Pineapple, Partiful, Lex, and Someplace Good — as “saccharinely-positive, non-toxic social media apps for Gen Z.”

However it’s additionally arriving as lawmakers in greater than a dozen nations have applied numerous bans of TikTok because of fears that the app is giving person information to the Chinese language authorities, and one U.S. state handed a ban on downloading it. So in fact TikTok’s guardian firm, China-based ByteDance, has now set its concentrate on a brand new app for Gen-Z. 

It’s stuffed with aspirational life-style content material

The app is at present targeted on life-style and journey content material — and productiveness porn. All the platform appears to be aimed toward a continuing journey of self-improvement and self-optimization, which, to be frank, sucks. The productiveness aesthetic tends to be aimed towards younger ladies, driving them to manage their weight loss program, train, sleep, hygiene, and perspective. It bears reminding, as Mashable has beforehand reported: A number of the habits these productiveness aesthetics push customers to emulate truly are good for you. Consuming effectively and exercising and journaling and meditation have all been confirmed to be efficient types of self-care. However doing so with the intention of accelerating your productiveness will solely lead you deeper into the outlet you’re attempting to dig your self out of. 

And trying to duplicate the performative aesthetics of creators who promote aspirational life which might be typically not attainable can take a toll on the psychological well being of customers and customers, with detrimental results on our psyches.

My Lemon8 For You Web page.
Credit score: Screenshot / Lemon8

The For You Web page of Lemon8 is swimming with both these sorts of messages or posts about easy methods to put up on Lemon8; both dangerous or self-serving. That is, in fact, my private For You Web page, nevertheless it doesn’t match up with the content material I’m consumed different apps — together with TikTok and Instagram, whose algorithms feed me predominately frog movies in the mean time. However these Lemon8 niches may not keep as they’re eternally. Simply have a look at TikTok, an app that had started with solely lip-syncing and dancing that now hosts content material throughout all sectors, from life-style to politics to popular culture to information, gaming, and a lot extra.

“After I first obtained on [Lemon8] in February, it was principally floor stage content material, which, since then, has begun to get extra in-depth, extra area of interest content material,” Lexi Poer or @strollingsuburbs on Lemon8(opens in a brand new tab), a content material creator with greater than 103,000 followers on Instagram(opens in a brand new tab), instructed Mashable. 

A deeper group may emerge

There are some complaints on the app, notably from customers who don’t assume they’re getting sufficient engagement on posts, however general Poer has “actually loved” her time on Lemon8. Having fun with the app is fairly per many of the customers I’ve spoken with for this piece.

Poer additionally says there’s a possibility for a nicer, tighter group on Lemon8, even though there isn’t any solution to DM your mutuals on the app. As an alternative, you need to remark under somebody’s put up to start out a dialog. I hate this, however Mae loves it — as does Alexa Monet, or @alexamonet on Lemon8(opens in a brand new tab), a plus-size trend YouTuber(opens in a brand new tab). In truth, the very causes I don’t like Lemon8 are sometimes the driving forces behind why some individuals find it irresistible.

“The feedback [on Lemon8 posts] are extra conversational, however I don’t know if that’s as a result of individuals on Instagram don’t really feel as snug to put up [a] longer caption, so it doesn’t actually begin a dialog,” Monet mused. “However I do really feel like on Lemon8, individuals really feel extra snug truly speaking [in the comments]. It’s a deeper dialog.”

Lemon8 is completely not an app for me. However — if you happen to like a slower social media expertise targeted on artistic posts, life-style content material, productiveness, the ins-and-outs of social media itself, and blog-like options — it is likely to be an app for you.