Potential TikTok ban: what social media apps are popping up in app stores
Several social media apps have appeared high in app store chart rankings as a potential U.S. ban hangs over the heads of TikTok and its American users.
Apps like Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, Clapper and Flip held places in the top-five of Apple and Google’s respective app store rankings for "Top Free" apps in the U.S. on Thursday morning.
Two of the apps – Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 – have been in the spotlight in particular.
Lemon8 allows users to "discover and share useful content related to beauty, fashion, travel, and more" through photos and videos, according to a recent press release from TikTok.
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It belongs to the Chinese tech company behind TikTok, ByteDance. Some of Lemon8’s interfaces appear to have similarities to Instagram and Pinterest.
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu has been around since 2013. The co-founders of the app, nicknamed RedNote, are Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu, according to its website.
"Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform that inspires people to discover and connect with a range of diverse lifestyles, where over 300 million users every month share their life experiences," its description on the Apple App Store said.
Its U.S. ranking on Apple and Google app stores on Thursday morning was No. 1 for free apps.
The U.S.-based social media app Clapper is "focused on providing local and global videos to all people," according to its website. It has video, livestream and radio-like capabilities.
It said in a blog post that its features made it the "perfect candidate to replace TikTok" if the ban occurs.
Flip has also made an appearance in U.S. app store rankings for top free apps.
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It is a "social shopping app for discovering and shopping" with videos, Flip said on its website. The app is currently only live in the U.S.
The apps’ high-rankings on app store charts come amid TikTok users being abuzz about the potential ban of the ByteDance-owned app in the U.S. and what other apps they are taking up.
Instagram, YouTube and other popular social media apps also offer short-form video capabilities that may appeal to TikTok users considering new platforms in the event of a U.S. ban.
The threat of a TikTok ban stems from a law signed last year by President Biden that seeks to ban the platform in the U.S. on Sunday if ByteDance does not perform a divestment.
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Government and TikTok lawyers presented oral arguments in a case centered on the potential ban to the Supreme Court late last week – and the nation’s highest court has since been weighing how to decide on it.
The law seeking to ban TikTok in the U.S. if there is no divestiture focuses on apps and websites "operated, directly or indirectly" by ByteDance, TikTok and subsidiaries.
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More than 170 million people in the U.S. use TikTok. The app, headed by CEO Shou Chew, rolled out in America in 2018.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, Lemon8 and other apps like CapCut and Lark, was founded in 2012.