TikTok Parent Company Tries and Fails to Compete with Instagram
By Movieguide® Contributor
Apparently, Instagram has a new competitor, but the app’s attempt to rival the social media giant is falling flat.
“Whee is a new social app created to keep you connected with your close friends through life’s spontaneous moments,” the Google Play Store describes. “Capture and share real-life photos that only your friends can see, allowing you to be your most authentic self. Whee is the best place for close friends to share life moments.”
Since its soft launch in 71 countries on June 18, though, Whee, owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance, “has relatively few downloads and has yet to advertise itself via Apple’s Search Ads,” according to TechCrunch. It’s not yet available in the United States.
While “Whee is designed for sharing photos that ‘only your friends can see,’ unlike Instagram, where public accounts allow anyone to see your posts,” its similarities to Instagram are obvious.
Whee’s branding centers around pink and orange, mimicking Instagram’s pink, purple and orange theme.
This wouldn’t be the first time ByteDance tried to copy the social media platform.
“The decision to introduce Whee seems puzzling, given that ByteDance only recently launched TikTok Notes, which is another Instagram-like app for sharing photos and texts. While Whee focuses on a friends-only approach, it’s still unclear why this functionality couldn’t be integrated into the Notes app, similar to how Instagram handles private and public accounts,” the Android Police wrote.
As far as safety goes, Whee will collect personal data such as contacts, personal information, photos and videos, devices or other IDs and messages.
Movieguide® previously reported on TikTok Notes:
Global social media video platform TikTok is testing out a new feature to compete with Instagram—TikTok Notes.
“TikTok Notes…looks like it’s just another picture and text sharing thing…threads and maybe like old school IG,” NBC News reported Thursday. “And some users are already getting a message that their photos could be shown on the app.”
“A website for TikTok notes is currently live on the web with a non-functioning open app button that has maybe a taste of it—a graphic of photos with captions underneath,” NBC said.
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