TAIPEI, TAIWAN —
As TikTok’s Sunday deadline to divest or face a U.S. ban approaches, hundreds of American users of the popular social media video app say they are migrating to another Chinese social media app, Xiaohongshu, or RedNote.
Dubbing themselves “TikTok Refugees,” some say they are making the move in search of a new home; others say their exodus is a form of protest against the ban.
With just days to go before the deadline, users are facing growing uncertainty as they wait for a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether the ban will be upheld. Reports are now suggesting that TikTok may just shut down its operations in the United States if the ban goes through.
“Our government is out of their mind if they think we are going to stand for this TikTok ban,” said American user Heather Roberts in one video on Xiaohongshu. “We are just going to a new Chinese app and here we are.”
Sky Bynum, an 18-year-old makeup content creator in the eastern state of New Jersey, told VOA that she is joining Xiaohongshu because she wants to find another social media site with a sense of community.
“The best thing about TikTok is the community on there,” Bynum told VOA in a video interview via Zoom. “When I posted my first few makeup videos, TikTok pushed them to the makeup people and I instantly found my community. I think [the potential ban on TikTok] is awful because I’m not going to have the same thing that I had on TikTok.
“Xiaohongshu is really cool because a lot of TikTok users were trying to find new communities on Xiaohongshu,” Bynum added.
Founded in 2013, Xiaohongshu is similar to Instagram and Pinterest. It currently has around 300 million users, most of them in China, and is widely used to share travel tips, makeup tutorials, and fashion trends.
The name literally means “little red book” but the company says it’s not a reference to former Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong’s collection of sayings.
Downloads surge
With many promoting and talking about their exodus to Xiaohongshu on “TikTok Refugees,” Xiaohongshu became the most downloaded app on Apple’s U.S. App Store this week.
More than 700,000 new users have joined Xiaohongshu this week, according to Reuters. Downloads of the app rose more than 200% year-over-year this week, according to app data research firm Sensor Tower.
With more American users expected to join Xiaohongshu, some Chinese users recorded English tutorials or welcome videos for American users.
“I guess [there has] never been a lifetime or history time [that] a platform has Chinese and Americans come together and have direct views. So welcome and we respect you,” Zhou Shu-Fu, a Chinese Xiaohongshu user from the southwestern province of Sichuan, said in a video released on Jan. 15.
Compared to Chinese social media users’ enthusiasm, the Chinese government offered a more cautious comment on the influx of American TikTok users to Xiaohongshu, describing the phenomenon as a “personal choice.”
“China has always supported and encouraged strengthening cultural exchanges and promoting mutual understanding among the peoples of all countries,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during the regular press conference on Wednesday.
The influx of American users has also prompted Xiaohongshu to build Chinese-English translation tools and hire English content moderators, according to the Reuters news agency and Chinese media outlets. Most of the posts on the app are in Chinese and RedNote does not have an auto-translate function.
Some American users tell VOA that their interactions with Chinese users are helping to increase their curiosity about China.
“My experience on RedNote makes me realize how toxic American social media has gotten and I’m excited to learn some basic Chinese and learn about what it’s really like in China,” Kia Epley, a 44-year-old engineer from Las Vegas, told VOA in a video interview.
TikTok content creators say they are looking for more than just a safe and welcoming community. One key concern for them is how they can keep making a living on social media.
“Most of my income is made on TikTok so if the ban comes into effect, a big chunk of my income will get taken away,” said Essence Whitaker, a 28-year-old makeup content producer in Michigan.
“A lot of content creators in the U.S. will be unemployed,” she told VOA in a video interview.
VOA reached out to TikTok for comment on the exodus but has yet to receive a response.
Tech media The Information reported on Tuesday that TikTok plans to shut the app for American users when the federal ban comes into effect on Sunday, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter.
Trend or temporary protest?
While the migration of American users to Xiaohongshu continues, some users say it remains unclear whether the exodus is a temporary phenomenon or a long-term trend. TikTok has more than 170 million users and so far, less than a million have moved over to Xiaohongshu.
“I don’t think the move to Xiaohongshu is going to be long-term because the biggest thing that creators worry about is monetization. Xiaohongshu doesn’t have that feature so I think other creators are still looking for an alternative to TikTok,” Bynum in New Jersey told VOA.
But others say similarities between TikTok and Xiaohongshu may help convince some American users to stay on the Chinese app.
“I like how real TikTok is because you get to see people’s natural reactions,” said Whitaker in Michigan, adding that Xiaohongshu has that same vibe.
“While I can’t tell whether people are going to stay on the app or not, I think the authenticity of the content will keep some users on there,” she told VOA in a video interview.
While many American users are excited about the prospect of Xiaohongshu being an alternative to TikTok, some analysts describe the mass migration as “going from the frying pan into the fire.”
“TikTok is owned by a Chinese company but it has international operations, which means there are theoretically several layers between TikTok and the Chinese Party-State,” said Bethany Allen, the head of China Investigations and Analysis at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
But “there are no layers of insulation between Xiaohongshu and Beijing,” she told VOA by phone, adding that issues such as political censorship or lack of data privacy protection could be “far worse” on Xiaohongshu than TikTok.
American users “are going to have absolutely no power to pressure Xiaohongshu as a company to do anything,” Allen added.
VOA has reached out to Xiaohongshu for comment but has yet to receive a response.
And despite the friendly interactions between Chinese and American users on Xiaohongshu over the last few days, experts said the “honeymoon period” may not last long.
“I think the Chinese government is probably going to get spooked [by the interaction between American users and Chinese users],” Sarah Cook, an independent China analyst, told VOA by phone.
She added that Beijing could impose a temporary shutdown on Xiaohongshu to implement some moderation or initiate “a mass cleanout” of accounts or content deemed inappropriate or sensitive on the app.
VOA’s Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.
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