The Morning After: TikTok is killing off its BeReal clone

TikTok says it's discontinuing TikTok Now, its attempt to replicate last year's social media sensation BeReal. According to screenshots posted by several users, parent ByteDance is “updating the TikTok experience and discontinuing TikTok Now.” TikTok Now had a nearly identical approach to viral hit BeReal, requiring users to take front and rear photos simultaneously. It added the ability to take 10-second TikTok-like videos instead of photos, obviously making it completely different. Snapchat and Instagram have both attempted to copy (or tested) their own BeReal-ish features.

The feature was part of the main TikTok app in the US, but is also available as a standalone TikTok Now app in other regions. The message sent to TikTok users in the US indicated that the feature was being killed in the main app, but there's no word on the separate TikTok Now app.

BeReal, meanwhile, might be contending with a drop-off in interest, according to a report from The New York Times in April. BeReal refuted an analytics report behind the story, though, saying it still had 20 million daily active users.

– Mat Smith

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