Some Duolingo social accounts currently show no posts, bio says "real eyes realize real lies"

Something strange is happening at Duolingo, it seems. The company’s main Instagram account currently shows 0 posts, while the bio says “real eyes realize real lies.” Same is the case with their main TikTok account as well.

Not all of the company’s socials are affected though. For example, their main Twitter/X account seems normal, however, it did post “real eyes realize real lies” a few hours ago.

Over on YouTube, all videos are seemingly intact, but the profile pic is gone, and the bio again says the same.

I checked Reddit and X to understand what the Duolingo community is making out of this, and it appears everyone is confused. A user even noted that the Duolingo icon is also changed as it now has a third eye.

So, what’s all this? A social media manager who has gone rogue? Are their socials hacked? Or is it yet another publicity stunt? If you ask me, I am more inclined towards the latter, especially because it has a precedent. But what’s perplexing is the fact that only some of their social accounts are affected and their YouTube channel seems to be only partially affected.

Anyway, I tried understanding the meaning of the phrase “real eyes realize real lies” and this is what Google’s AI tells me:

So, is Duolingo trying to pass on a subtle message to its users? Are they pointing out a smear campaign against them which they want their subscribers to clearly see and understand? Could be, but I am not sure.

It’s important to mention here that this development today came shortly after the popular language learning company announced they’ll gradually phase out contract workers in favor of AI tools, a move that definitely wasn’t appreciated widely.

And people are already speculating that this may be a marketing move to take the spotlight off their AI announcement.

It’s also important to note that more recently the company made a significant change in their app wherein it has replaced hearts in favor of a new “energy” mechanic. However, I don’t think this change has anything to do with the weird social media changes we’re seeing at Duolingo today.

Maybe we’ll just have to wait to see if Duolingo clarifies what’s going on, especially what exactly it is trying to convey through the message “real eyes realize real lies”. Meanwhile, if you have anything to share on this, feel free to use the comments section at the bottom of this page.