January was a chaotic month for TikTok users. As the date for TikTok’s potential ban in the United States approached, millions of American users flocked to the alternative app Xiaohongshu, better known as RedNote among English speakers. The app topped the App Store and Google Play Store on 19 January, accommodating the so-called “TikTok refugees”, while TikTok removed itself from app stores on the same day.
However, the popularity of RedNote began to wane within a few days after President Donald Trump took office and issued an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day extension to comply with the ban unless it was sold to an American entity. While the majority of TikTok users returned to the app they had been using, RedNote emerged as a strong competitor and one of the best alternative apps during this brief period.
Harmony in RedNote’s ‘For You Page’
RedNote is a Chinese app that was launched in October 2013, and as of January, it has over 300 million monthly active users. Reports say most users of the app are young women, sharing content related to lifestyle and travel. Although many TikTok users migrated to the Chinese platform to stand against their own government and big tech companies such as Meta, the app bears more resemblance to Instagram than to TikTok. It uses algorithms to recommend videos, allowing users to explore an endless scroll feed.
An interesting phenomenon occurred during the brief migration, as American and Chinese users converged, creating a moment of cultural exchange. While many TikTok expats tried to rebuild their community base by uploading videos explaining why they had migrated to the app, other users greeted the old community with machine-translated captions in Mandarin. Chinese users also posted videos introducing their culture to the American newcomers, discussing the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations and their personal preferences. One Chinese user described this as a “historic moment” of cultural exchange between the two countries.
Due to Chinese censorship of social media content and the existing tension between the two nations, it has been relatively rare to see such active interaction between Americans and Chinese users. Some reports have compared this brief exchange on RedNote to the time when Clubhouse attracted worldwide attention and hosted chat rooms where users from different countries freely shared conversations.
What’s Next for RedNote?
The app saw remarkable growth during the brief period in January, adding more than 700,000 users within two days. It even attracted more attention than Lemon8, a social media app developed by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
However, as a Chinese-backed app, it faces similar questions around policies and regulations, particularly regarding data and privacy. With the possibility of user data being stored in China and the app’s terms and conditions being provided only in Mandarin, several American experts have raised concerns, calling it a potential threat. If RedNote seeks to expand its reach in the American market, it may need to transfer ownership to an American company, just as TikTok was mandated to do.
On 31 January, Texas became the first state to ban RedNote due to cybersecurity concerns.
