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TikTok has launched an alternative to Instagram called Whee. It is an app that lets you share photos with your close friends. You take a photo of what you see and share it with only the people you choose. It has a simple structure that anyone can use right away, with a photo viewfinder, friends list, and feed. It seems to be in testing right now, and it is said to be available in more than 12 countries, excluding the United States. It is not available for download on the App Store.
When you look at the symbol of Whi, a service that everyone knows immediately comes to mind: Instagram Threads. The sunset gradient resembles Instagram, and the way the alphabet is represented with truncated lines is similar to the Threads logo.
Previously, TikTok had already released 'TikTok Note', which was similar to Instagram. It was an image-centered SNS with a Pinterest layout, and expressed the brand as a unique service. On the other hand, the newly released Whee seems to be blatantly targeting Instagram.
Instagram has come back to life by replicating TikTok’s usability with Reels. TikTok is trying to become Instagram. This is where the idea of design replication comes into play.
You don’t patent user experiences like riding a bike. In digital products, Pinterest’s gallery, X’s tweets, and Instagram’s feed UI patterns are treated like “genres” in movies or games. In the legal field, these UIs are judged to be so similar that their patterns are bound to be similar due to technical limitations.
On the other hand, logos and symbols are protected by copyright like works of art. They are areas where unique value can be given because there are unlimited possibilities. They are not easy to create value, but they are easy to copy and can cause confusion to consumers, so they are protected by law.
In the seemingly stable social media market, TikTok has caused a big change with its syndrome. In a fiercely competitive environment where companies are copying each other, what is the fine line that should not be crossed? However, I think copying someone else's face is crossing the line.
Every Tuesday morning, a designer with 16 years of experience curated Collect design trends.
