Taipei, Taiwan – As a TikTok ban looms in the USA, younger Individuals are flocking to the Chinese language social media platform Xiaohongshu as “TikTok refugees” seeking an analogous expertise.
The app has risen to the highest spot on the iOS and Google Play shops within the US in latest days as customers put together for TikTok to be banned on nationwide safety grounds from Sunday until Chinese language mum or dad firm ByteDance divests its possession.
Chinese language life-style app Lemon8, which can also be owned by ByteDance, has ranked because the second most downloaded app.
Xiaohongshu, which has been described as China’s reply to Instagram, permits customers to publish photographs, movies and textual content and is understood for its female-heavy consumer base.
Whereas boasting about 300 million month-to-month lively customers, Xiaohongshu’s attain is smaller than that of different fashionable apps in China, corresponding to Sina Weibo and WeChat, which declare 1.2 billion-plus customers.
A surge in new customers, a few of them describing themselves as “TikTok refugees,” is now flooding the app’s “Uncover” web page with movies looking for tips about methods to use “RedNote,” the app’s new nickname within the US.
“Hey. I don’t know what’s occurring any extra. Individuals are coming right here. So sorry if y’all hate us. I promise we’ll do our greatest,” a feminine consumer calling herself “Star404” mentioned in a short-form video posted on Tuesday.
“Don’t even fear, we’re going to take action nice. That is so a lot better than TikTok. Simply not Meta. Instagram reels, I can type of dig. Fb and YouTube shorts, no shot. By no means occurring,” she mentioned.
The irony of many customers transferring from one Chinese language-owned app to a different has not been misplaced on observers like Ryan Broderick, the writer of Rubbish Day, a e-newsletter that covers the web.
“It’s undoubtedly humorous that American youngsters are protesting the looming TikTok ban through the use of a way more culturally Chinese language app,” Broderick instructed Al Jazeera.
“In the mean time, RedNote doesn’t appear to be siloing Chinese language content material or requiring customers to have a Chinese language cellphone quantity, so it’s changed into a kind of enjoyable cultural chaos on the app, an expertise that by no means actually even occurred on TikTok,” he mentioned.
The publish by “Star404” racked up greater than 4,000 feedback in 24 hours, principally from Chinese language customers welcoming her to the platform or joking about language challenges.
One other consumer, “Fern,” expressed her gratitude to the flood of Chinese language followers that got here her method after becoming a member of the platform.
“We have to discuss you guys blowing up my video about transferring to Rednote to 50,000 new followers in lower than 24 hours. You guys are insane,” she mentioned.
“However thanks a lot for all of the help, I actually respect it.”
Whereas amusing to many Chinese language Xiaohongshu customers, the surge in American customers has reportedly put the app’s proprietor in a clumsy spot.
Chinese language media outlet PConline on Tuesday reported that Xiaohongshu workers have been instructed to “not focus on, not promote, and never share” information about their new US consumer base, citing sources inside the firm.
“This wave of site visitors has change into the sword of Damocles hanging over Xiaohongshu’s head. In truth, for Xiaohongshu, which inexplicably acquired this site visitors, the dangers far outweigh the alternatives,” the report mentioned.
These potential dangers embody regulatory problems.
Chinese language social media platforms sometimes require customers to register with a Chinese language cellphone quantity, whereas content material is topic to authorities censorship.
Because of this, Chinese language tech firms usually create home and international variations of their apps, mentioned Yiwen Lu, a researcher at ChinaTalk, a e-newsletter and podcast specializing in Chinese language know-how.
TikTok is a global model of Douyin, whereas Lemon8 was particularly designed by ByteDance for the international market.
For now, Chinese language and American customers are seeing the identical content material on Xiaohongshu.
Nonetheless, some customers have reminded their American counterparts that the app comes with its personal algorithm.
“Pleasant reminder: On Chinese language social media platforms, please don’t point out delicate matters corresponding to politics, faith, and medicines!!! Please adhere to the One China coverage and reject pornography, playing, and medicines,” one consumer wrote beneath Star404’s publish.
“[You] can say every part right here, besides the historical past [of China] from 1949-2025,” one other consumer mentioned.
ChinaTalk’s Lu mentioned that American customers could have a tough time replicating their TikTok expertise on the app – particularly relating to monetising content material.
“The monetisation fashions fluctuate enormously – XHS positions itself as a purchasing platform, with most creators incomes income by means of paid partnerships. This distinction makes it difficult for creators to completely transition their work and revenue streams to XHS within the quick time period,” Lu instructed Al Jazeera.
Livestream purchasing, a massively fashionable type of e-commerce in China, has taken off on Xiahongshu in latest months.
Within the US, many TikTok customers nonetheless store by means of hyperlinks to Amazon or the purchasing platform LTK, quick for “Wish to Know.”
Lu and Broderick each expressed doubt that the inflow of US customers would final attributable to variations between the platforms and the actual fact many customers had joined as an act of protest.
Nonetheless, the migration to Xiaohongshu ought to function a warning to the US authorities and Huge Tech, Broderick mentioned.
“It’s a humorous technique to hopefully make US politicians understand that Chinese language apps are coming for the US whether or not they prefer it or not,” he mentioned.
“And, equally, it’s a great way of letting Silicon Valley know that their merchandise are stagnating and no quantity of federal bans are going to make younger individuals enthusiastic about Meta merchandise once more.”
