"TikTok refugees" find new shelter - Chinese social media, RedNote downloaded by about 700,000 Americans within 1 week
News that the US government and several other governments, including the Albanian one, are banning TikTok in their countries has led many users of the short-video social network to turn to another Chinese app called RedNote. The little-known company has been quick to capitalize on the sudden influx, while walking a delicate line of moderating English-language content. In a live chat called “TikTok Refugees” on RedNote, more than 50,000 American and Chinese users joined the conversation.
Veteran Chinese users, with a sense of bewilderment from the large influx, welcomed their American counterparts and exchanged ideas on topics such as nutrition and youth unemployment.
According to Reuters, such cultural conversations were taking place in many groups on RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, as the app climbed to the top of the download charts in the US. RedNote's popularity was fueled by American social media users looking for an alternative to TikTok, owned by ByteDance, days before a US court ruled to ban it.
Because of these uncertainties, users are embracing the new platform. “As I sit here recording this video with everyone watching, it’s okay because I’m one of the ‘TikTok refugees’ and I’m used to it,” said a user named Crystal, who declined to give her last name, in a post on RedNote.
Many individuals are treating the potential move to other platforms as a form of protest. A TikTok influencer named Gwenna Laithland sees the move to RedNote as a way for Americans to express their discontent.
“We, as the American public, feel very silenced and ignored, because this is where we have the opportunity to say, ‘No, we don’t like this! You didn’t listen!’” she said. However, Laithland expressed skepticism about RedNote’s long-term sustainability.
Public opinion seems divided on the potential ban on TikTok. Some users, like New York resident Jasmine McBride, welcome a complete ban on social media, arguing that platforms like TikTok have led to “brain rot.” Others, like Canadian singer-songwriter Jade LeMac, still have doubts about the potential ban and plan to continue their creative work on other platforms if necessary.
In the short term, the issue of data privacy and the potential misuse of user data by foreign governments also comes into play. Ambika Gaur, a 22-year-old New York resident, says: “I think my generation has been given the idea that we have a Chinese agent on the other end of the phone. But I don’t think about it too much when I’m using the app because there’s so much online and we feel like we have a digital presence.”
In just two days, more than 700,000 new users joined the app RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, as it is known in China, a person close to the company told Reuters. RedNote downloads in the U.S. rose more than 200% in the second week of January compared with a year earlier, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower.
The second most downloaded app on Apple's App Store list, Lemon8, another social media app owned by ByteDance, experienced a similar surge last month, with downloads increasing by 190% in December to about 3.4 million downloads.
The influx appears to have caught RedNote by surprise, with two sources familiar with the company telling Reuters that it was trying to find ways to moderate English-language content and build translation tools.
RedNote has only one version of its app, and it has not separated it into a version used in China and one used in foreign countries, a rarity among Chinese social apps that are subject to local regulations.
However, the company is keen to expand on this growing popularity, as executives see it as a potential path to achieving global reach similar to that of TikTok.
RedNote, a venture-backed startup with a market valuation of $17 billion, allows users to curate photos, videos, and texts that document their lives. RedNote is considered a potential candidate for an Initial Public Offering in China.
In recent years, the app has become a "de facto" search engine for its over 300 million users who seek travel advice, anti-aging creams and restaurant recommendations.
Share prices of several Chinese-listed companies that do business with RedNote, such as Hangzhou Onechance Tech Corp, rose as much as 20% on Tuesday after news of the app's surge in downloads was released.
The surge in U.S. users comes ahead of a January 19 decision by ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. on national security grounds. TikTok is currently used by about 170 million Americans, roughly half the country's population, and is extremely popular among young people and advertisers looking to promote products or services.
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