This week, Facebook revealed that it is shutting down two of its experimental apps, one of which is its first TikTok clone. But don’t worry, Facebook doesn’t give up on its usual tricks: it has another TikTok clone waiting on its wings.
Specifically, the two apps Facebook is closing are Lasso, the aforementioned TikTok clone, and Hobbi, a Pinterest impersonator. Both were developed by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team and launched in recent years. Both were immediately called for their similarities to other apps, even Lasso’s positive reviews compare him to TikTok.
I guess I can’t really judge Facebook too harshly for naked attempts to swipe cheats from other platforms – it worked, and gloriously, in the case of Instagram and Snapchat. It should come as no surprise that the company is trying the same trick again. But maybe this was once too many? I can name, on the one hand, the times I have heard someone talk about Lasso, without hands if we count any time outside of my work.
Instead, Facebook appears to be investing its resources in its Instagram-based TikTok competitor Reels. This is not a separate app, but a feature within Instagram that allows users to shoot short videos with music. You are not alone in this endeavor: YouTube is launching a similar feature in a brazen attempt to attract the TikTok crowd.
Several of the social media heads of state, including Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, have expressed disgust at TikTok and its parent company. While several of them have disguised it out of fear for the safety and privacy of its users, Sandberg blurted out in an interview what is likely the true source of hostility: TikTok’s meteoric rise has reduced Facebook’s youth supply. Sandberg even admitted that her children are heavy users of TikTok.
The only reason I think Reels could Seeing any kind of success is that governments around the world are beginning to crack down on TikTok. The app has been banned in India, while it’s also allegedly under a national security review in the US There is also a chance that some users may appreciate having the feature built into a familiar app, rather than having to use a separate app but I have a feeling that TikTok it is the main social app for many young people, who won’t bother with the new Instagram feature.
Both Lasso and Hobbi will close on July 10.
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