Lifestyle
What Are the Alternatives to TikTok?
On Friday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case that will determine the fate of TikTok in the United States. While some users and creators are holding out hope that the ban will not go into effect and that they’ll be able to continue using the app, justices seem poised to uphold the law that could slowly render it defunct.
As the court’s decision looms, some of the platform’s roughly 170 million users in the United States are starting to wonder: Where is everyone going instead?
There have been some murmurs about Lemon8, a highly visual social media app focused largely on lifestyle content that has the same Chinese owner as TikTok, ByteDance. Resembling a hybrid between Instagram and Pinterest, Lemon8 first launched in Japan in 2020 and has slowly rolled out in other countries.
In 2023, as lawmakers in Washington were grilling TikTok’s chief executive, ByteDance was quietly pushing creators to join Lemon8 and offering potential paid incentives. But because of its ownership, the platform could be subject to the same law as TikTok.
If Lemon8 were to be banned as well, TikTok users would largely be limited to long-established social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube, which have added features in recent years to compete with TikTok.
Instagram, for instance, rolled out its vertical video feature, Reels, in 2020 as an answer to the ByteDance-owned platform. Initially, some users found that Reels left a lot to be desired, but its vertical video format is visually similar to TikTok, and some users already cross-post TikTok content there.
YouTube introduced YouTube Shorts the same year, allowing for short-form videos of up to one minute.
And, of course, there’s the traditional YouTube video format. In recent years, TikTok has been putting an emphasis on longer videos, which means creators and users alike may be primed to begin making and watching video content that seems at home on YouTube, rather than YouTube Shorts.
Yumna Jawad, a recipe developer and content creator who goes by Feel Good Foodie, said she felt prepared for the potential ban because she had taken pains to make sure she never relied too heavily on a single platform in her work.
“I was on Flipboard. I’m trying to figure out Lemon8 and Threads,” said Ms. Jawad, who is 42 and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich. “There’s constantly a new one, and I’m always open to trying things out.”
Sunday Puzzle
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On-air challenge
I’m going to read you some sentences. Each sentence conceals the name of a major U.S. city in consecutive letters. As a hint, the answer’s state also appears in the sentence. Every answer has at least six letters. (Ex. The Kentucky bodybuilders will be flexing tonight. –> LEXINGTON)
1. Space enthusiasts in Oregon support landing on Mars.
2. Contact your insurance branch or agent in Alaska.
3. The Ohio company has a sale from today to next Sunday.
4. The Colorado trial ended in a sudden verdict.
5. Fans voted the Virginia tennis matches a peak experience.
6. I bought a shamrock for decorating my house in Illinois.
7. All the Connecticut things they knew have now changed.
8. Can you help a software developer in Texas?
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge came from Mike Reiss, who’s a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons.” Think of a famous living singer. The last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name spell a bird. Change the first letter of the singer’s first name. Then the first three letters of that first name and the last five letters of his last name together spell another bird. What singer is this?
Challenge answer
Placido Domingo
Winner
Brock Hammill of Corvallis, Montana.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Robert Flood, of Allen, Texas. Name a famous female singer of the past (five letters in the first name, seven letters in the last name). Remove the last letter of her first name and you can rearrange all the remaining letters to name the capital of a country (six letters) and a food product that its nation is famous for (five letters).
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, December 18 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
Lucy Dacus performs at Spotlight: Lucy Dacus at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on October 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, guest judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Lucy Dacus and panelists Adam Burke, Helen Hong, and Tom Bodett. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Alzo This Time
Mega Media Merger; Cars, They’re Just Like Us; The Swag Gap
Panel Questions
An Hourly Marriage
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about a new TV show making headlines, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Lucy Dacus answers our questions about boy geniuses
Singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, one third of the supergroup boygenius, plays our game called, “boygenius, meet Boy Geniuses” Three questions about child prodigies.
Panel Questions
Bedroom Rules; Japan Solves its Bear Problem
Limericks
Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: NHL Superlatives; Terrible Mouthwash; The Most Holy and Most Stylish
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict what will be the next big merger in the news.
The gun violence that has taken place in the last two days is prompting San Diego community members to take action.
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Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers Announce Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game
World Junior Championships: Team USA arrives to Minnesota
Philip Rivers fell one throw short of storybook ending in his couch-to-Colts return
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Epstein Testimony Nov. 3
Small Business Administration unveils new initiative to roll back federal regulations
Analysis: Trump’s policies set to widen EU-US innovation gap
With federal relief on the horizon, Black farmers worry it won’t come soon enough
Trump’s election win filled Hamas with ‘fear,’ hostage held like ‘slave’ for 505 days recounts
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