What is RedNote, the Chinese Social Media App Gaining Popularity Among US TikTokers
In the US, people are currently using Xiaohongshu (aka Little Red Book) as a surprise option instead of TikTok, which looks to have an uncertain future in the country by the US Supreme Court. Over the last week, Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, has soared to the top of Apple’s US App Store.
Developed in 2013, Xiaohongshu is one of the largest platforms in China, says research by Qian Gua, adding that it is considered as China’s Instagram with around 300 million active users. It is more popular because it provides information regarding travel, makeup, and anything related to fashion. However, in the past, it has been considered to exist solely in Chinese speaking communities except for very little exposure to the outside world. That is just about to change.
What’s with the sudden popularity of Xiaohongshu?
The growing popularity of Xiaohongshu is closely related with the increased speculation concerning TikTok’s potential ban in the U.S. American users are already moving towards Xiaohongshu since the TikTok ban in the US is very much anticipated because many users from America view their cooperation as a means of opposing government’s effort to regulate TikTok virulently.
The hashtag, #TikTokRefugee, has managed to rack up over 59 million views with slightly over 1.7 million comments as more employees narrated their reasons for the shift that Sparked.
Heather Roberts, an American user, ranted in a video, saying that “Our governments are out of their minds if they think we can stand for this TikTok ban. … we’re going to be going, like, a new Chinese app, and now we are here.” Other users also expressed excitement in the sense that change is refreshing and is better than using TikTok.
What Brings US and Chinese Users Together on the Application?
Bringing in numerous US users may likely form an unforeseen linkage between American and Chinese users. Despite differences in language and culture, many newcomers are showing great willingness to properly link up with their Chinese counterparts.
One US user urged new arrivals respect “people who are already in the platform” by avoiding politics, which, among other moves, considerably fairs the atmosphere. To salves such as those have some of it, there have already been video tutorials from Chinese users showing the newcomers how to use the mobile app.
To many, this has been most compelling and reminded them of the scarce opportunities people from both nations could talk openly in an uncensored space. “This can be a historic moment,” one Chinese user said. “It feels like so much has changed in an instant… I hope everyone can take this brief chance to engage in meaningful exchanges.”
Ivy Yang, a Chinese tech analyst, remarked that the organic exchanges could potentially make the U.S.-China relationship stronger. “A creative approach to overcoming gaps between language, culture and living with differences. It’s a way to get to labels that really resonate.”
Similar cross-cultural exchange was observed on the Clubhouse app last year, which was quick for Chinese officials to step in and block the app.
Xiaohongshu-Shapely Beyond TikTok
Xiaohongshu is more than just a Chinese knockoff of TikTok; it has a different beat entirely. One major distinction is that Xiaohongshu was not initially created with Yorkers in mind, and it is of the restricted digital space of China. While TikTok was designed to appeal to audiences everywhere in the world, Xiaohongshu adapted its content to a more local audience in terms of how it used or got in contact with users.
Its name draws from the funny red book of Mao Zedong quotes that start in Communist China. It is a characteristic of Xiaohongshu in that the algorithm favors content that appeals to user interests—quite apart from a name or image of people one follows. All of this gives rise to the feeling of content that is more original and almost deleting the influencer’s prior big picture.
It was founded by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu in Shanghai since it is the parent company of Xiaohongshu, Shanghai Xingin Information Technology. On the other hand, ByteDance owns TikTok, but it is not available in China, where its Douyin sister app serves the local market.
Is the shift by TikTokers towards other apps in the US, too?
Xiaohongshu is not the only one attracting users in the US. Lemon8 is another app belonging to ByteDance, which also made it to the second place on the US App Store. Released in 2023 in the US, Lemon8 offers a pretty similar video-sharing experience with TikTok but with lifestyle-oriented design, actually combining Instagram and Tumblr.
What is not clear yet is whether Lemon8 will experience the same regulatory problems as TikTok under the US laws- last moment stresses have indicated that it was possible under the divest-or-ban requirement to apply to all of ByteDance’s apps.
In the United States, the Future of RedNote and Online Media
It is not confirmed whether other shifts will eventually happen as people leave TikTok for Xiaohongshu and other platforms. Amid the ongoing political struggle over the future of TikTok, perhaps one day sites like RedNote (Xiaohongshu) may be there waiting for an informal cultural exchange-and maybe even a look forward into a future in social media that bridged leaps across nations, heralding new ways of global dialogue.
