Taipei, Taiwan – As a TikTok ban looms in the United States, juvenileer Americans are flocking to the Chinese social media platcreate Xiaohongshu as “TikTok refugees” in search of a aenjoy experience.
The app has elevaten to the top spot on the iOS and Google Play stores in the US in recent days as engagers ready for TikTok to be banned on national security grounds from Sunday unless Chinese parent company ByteDance divests its ownership.
Chinese lifestyle app Lemon8, which is also owned by ByteDance, has ranked as the second most downloaded app.
Xiaohongshu, which has been portrayd as China’s answer to Instagram, permits engagers to post photos, videos and text and is understandn for its female-burdensome engager base.
While boasting about 300 million monthly active engagers, Xiaohongshu’s achieve is smaller than that of other well-understandn apps in China, such as Sina Weibo and WeChat, which claim 1.2 billion-plus engagers.
A sinspire in recent engagers, some of them describing themselves as “TikTok refugees,” is now flooding the app’s “Discover” page with videos seeking tips on how to engage “RedNote,” the app’s recent nickname in the US.
“Hello. I don’t understand what’s happening any more. Americans are coming here. So sorry if y’all disenjoy us. I promise we’ll do our best,” a female engager calling herself “Star404” shelp in a low-create video posted on Tuesday.
“Don’t even worry, we’re going to do so wonderful. This is so much better than TikTok. Just not Meta. Instagram reels, I can benevolent of dig. Facebook and YouTube lows, no shot. Never happening,” she shelp.
The irony of many engagers moving from one Chinese-owned app to another has not been lost on watchrs enjoy Ryan Broderick, the author of Garbage Day, a recentsletter that covers the internet.
“It’s definitely comical that American teenagers are protesting the looming TikTok ban by using a much more culturassociate Chinese app,” Broderick telderly Al Jazeera.
“At the moment, RedNote doesn’t seem to be siloing Chinese encountered or requiring engagers to have a Chinese phone number, so it’s turned into a sort of fun cultural disorder on the app, an experience that never reassociate even happened on TikTok,” he shelp.
The post by “Star404” racked up more than 4,000 comments in 24 hours, mostly from Chinese engagers welcoming her to the platcreate or joking about language disputes.
Another engager, “Fern,” conveyed her gratitude to the flood of Chinese fagedrops that came her way after joining the platcreate.
“We necessitate to talk about you guys bloprosperg up my video about moving to Rednotice to 50,000 recent fagedrops in less than 24 hours. You guys are inlogical,” she shelp.
“But thank you so much for all the help, I reassociate appreciate it.”
While amusing to many Chinese Xiaohongshu engagers, the sinspire in American engagers has increateedly put the app’s owner in an awkward spot.
Chinese media outlet PConline on Tuesday increateed that Xiaohongshu engageees have been teached to “not talk, not upgrasp, and not split” recents about their recent US engager base, citing sources wilean the company.
“This wave of traffic has become the sword of Damocles hanging over Xiaohongshu’s head. In fact, for Xiaohongshu, which inexplicably getd this traffic, the dangers far outweigh the opportunities,” the increate shelp.
Those potential dangers integrate regulatory complications.
Chinese social media platcreates typicassociate insist engagers to enroll with a Chinese phone number, while encountered is subject to rulement administer.
For this reason, Chinese tech companies normally originate domestic and foreign versions of their apps, shelp Yiwen Lu, a researcher at ChinaTalk, a recentsletter and podcast concentrateing on Chinese technology.
TikTok is an international version of Douyin, while Lemon8 was particularassociate depicted by ByteDance for the foreign labelet.
For now, Chinese and American engagers are seeing the same encountered on Xiaohongshu.
However, some engagers have reminded their American counterparts that the app comes with its own set of rules.
“Friendly reminder: On Chinese social media platcreates, charm do not refer comardent topics such as politics, religion, and substances!!! Plrelieve adhere to the One China policy and decline grown-up material, betting, and substances,” one engager wrote under Star404’s post.
“[You] can say everyleang here, except the history [of China] from 1949-2025,” another engager shelp.
ChinaTalk’s Lu shelp that American engagers will have a difficult time replicating their TikTok experience on the app – especiassociate when it comes to monetising encountered.
“The monetisation models vary wonderfully – XHS positions itself as a shopping platcreate, with most creators geting revenue thraw phelp partnerships. This branch offence originates it challenging for creators to brimmingy transition their toil and income streams to XHS in the low term,” Lu telderly Al Jazeera.
Livestream shopping, a hugely well-understandn create of e-commerce in China, has getn off on Xiahongshu in recent months.
In the US, many TikTok engagers still shop thraw connects to Amazon or the shopping platcreate LTK, low for “Like to Know.”
Lu and Broderick both conveyed ask that the influx of US engagers would last due to branch offences between the platcreates and the fact many engagers had joined as an act of protest.
Still, the migration to Xiaohongshu should serve as a cautioning to the US rulement and Big Tech, Broderick shelp.
“It’s a comical way to hopebrimmingy originate US politicians genuineize that Chinese apps are coming for the US whether they enjoy it or not,” he shelp.
“And, aforeseeed, it’s a outstanding way of letting Silicon Valley understand that their products are stagnating and no amount of federal bans are going to originate juvenileer people excited about Meta products aget.”
