Examples of Setlog videos [JOONGANG ILBO]
An alert chimes every hour. Then, users record and share two-second clips of whatever they’re doing in the moment — nothing polished, nothing staged. And, the hourly mission is complete.
The social media app “Setlog” is becoming an essential tool among those in their teens and 20s.
Setlog allows users to record two- to three-second videos every hour and post them in real time, creating a rolling, collective daily vlog. Users can access the shared chat room via codes or friend invites.
Its appeal lies in its simplicity — no filters or edits.
The app was ranked at the top on Apple’s App Store for free downloads as of May 3.
The app has even transformed youngsters' communication methods, according to 26-year-old job-seeker Yu Eun-bi.
"As I shared my daily experiences through Setlog, chat rooms on KakaoTalk have become quieter," Yu, who has joined three Setlog groups with her college and high school friends, said. “I get to have a more candid, detailed view of how my friends are doing than I get from occasional meetups."
Users have begun shaping their own rituals within the app.
The so-called “rainbow challenge” makes users coordinate colors across outfits or surroundings. Or, in other cases, users mimic the gestures of the first person to post each hour. Once hourly clips are compiled, the daily vlog can be downloaded.
A so-called “rainbow” challenge on Setlog, where users post moments matching the color set by the first person to upload. [JOONGANG ILBO]
For Gen-Zers — those born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s — the app offers relief from the pressures of conventional social media platforms, notably Instagram, where people boast about their lifestyles.
Choi Chul, a consumer economics professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, said the Setlog’s surging popularity reflects users’ growing fatigue with “overexposure of personal privacy” in conventional social media.
“Users are seeking out closed social platforms like Setlog because they want to keep their daily lives within a trusted, limited audience,” he said.
“Due to my irregular routine, I’m often lounging around in comfortable clothes or sleeping late,” said Han Sang-hyeon, 27, a broadcasting industry worker. “Watching friends do the same brings a sense of comfort. It’s a different kind of appeal from Instagram, where there’s pressure to share only your most polished moments."
Even so, the app’s stripped-down features seem to encourage people to become productive.
“It felt awkward being the only one lying around in my room, posting clips showing nothing but the ceiling while everyone else was doing something,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “So I started getting up, grabbing coffee and doing laundry — just to feel productive.”
But the app’s feature requiring engagement every hour may also wear users down.
“Even among close friends, hourly sharing can become exhausting,” said Lim Myung-ho, a psychology professor at Dankook University. “It is questionable whether it can sustain in the long term.”
Hourly notifications urging users to post their moments [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Some users say the hourly posting format can feel like mutual surveillance.
“I started using it because it felt new, but after a few weeks, it was the same weekly pattern over and over,” said Park Ji-ho, 23, a college student. “These days, I sometimes post just out of obligation.”
A similar pattern was observed with an app called “BeReal.” Launched in 2020, it peaked in popularity around 2022, surpassing 110 million downloads. Its momentum, however, quickly faded as user fatigue set in.
There are also concerns about privacy. On X, one user wrote to people to refrain from uploading anything sensitive to Setlog because of uncertainty about how the data would be protected.
Setlog reassures users that it uses “encryption to ensure that users who do not belong to the group cannot view clips and messages,” noting that data protection was its key priority in app development.
"The app was designed to counter traditional social media’s oversharing problem and intended to bring people closer within existing relationships," the app operator said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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