As of Monday, RedNote has become the most downloaded free app on the US App Store. A few days before the potential ban in the United States of the social network TikTok, a large number of its American users have turned to this Chinese platform in protest. In this new digital land, users call themselves “TikTok Refugees“(”refugees from TikTok”). The hashtag of the same name had already accumulated more than 290 million views as of Wednesday.
A mix between Instagram and Pinterest
RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, – meaning ‘Little Red Book’ in Mandarin – is a Chinese application launched in Shanghai in 2013. The name does not refer to the collection of quotes from the former communist leader Chinese Mao Tse-tung but clearly echoes the establishments where its founders studied.
Makeup tutorial, sharing recipes, decorating ideas, travel stories… RedNote is a mix between Instagram and Pinterest, which focuses on sharing lifestyle content. The application has become a reference for travel enthusiasts, who can find numerous tips for visiting tourist sites, restaurants and points of interest, published by other users. A trend which has notably contributed to the eclipse of tourist guides in paper format in China.
Like Instagram and TikTok, the platform also hosts many influencers who promote products for remuneration. It is also possible for users to purchase items directly on the platform.
Who uses it?
Just like TikTok, RedNote also works with an “explore” page. Both are created by an algorithm that suggests content based on user interests and interactions.
Until Monday, RedNote was best known in Chinese-speaking circles, where it claims, at the end of 2023, 300 million monthly active users, the majority of them young urban women. Outside of mainland China, it appeals to the populations of many other Chinese-speaking territories and countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
The language barrier
The app’s sudden popularity in the United States may prove fleeting. Unlike TikTok, which is largely universalized, RedNote remains rooted in Chinese language and culture. The app’s main challenge in retaining these new American users will remain the language barrier, experts note. Internet users can post content in English, but the application is in Mandarin and does not have automatic translation tools.
On TikTok, Internet users give each other tips for using the tool despite this language barrier. Like Mia Deluca, an American influencer who says she takes screenshots and sends them to ChatGPT to translate the comments appearing on her videos in particular.
Possible censorship
Like other Chinese platforms, content posted on RedNote is subject to close monitoring by its moderators and may be censored for non-compliance with local rules. For their part, experts remain cautious: this influx of American Internet users could reflect more of a one-off reaction to the TikTok crisis than a real lasting craze.
What is happening around TikTok in the United States?
Uncertainty remains over the future of TikTok in the United States. As a reminder, a law was adopted in April 2024. It requires the Chinese entertainment giant ByteDance to sell TikTok by January 19 under penalty of ban on American soil, where the application has 170 million users. Outgoing President Joe Biden’s government accuses TikTok of allowing Beijing to collect user data and spy on them, which China and ByteDance deny
Part of the fate of the platform rests on the Supreme Court, urgently seized by the group to block the application of the law passed in April in Congress and which leaves it, as it stands, with no other outcome than a sale. At the hearing which took place on Friday, several magistrates of the highest American court seemed sensitive to the arguments linked to national security raised by Congress, which fears the exploitation by the Chinese government of the data of American users of TikTok . The Supreme Court’s decision is expected any day this week.
