Hong Kong
The Gentleman Report
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As Preferrred Court docket justices contemplate the way forward for TikTok in the USA, a rising choice of American social media customers have answered via transferring to an not likely selection: Xiaohongshu, a massively standard social media app in China.
The app, because of this “Little Purple E book,” continuously shortened via US customers to RedNote, surged to the highest place on Apple’s US App Retailer on Tuesday.
Based in 2013, Xiaohongshu is certainly one of China’s greatest social media platforms with 300 million customers, in line with analysis company Qian Gua. Described as China’s solution to Instagram, the app has turn into particularly standard for sharing recommendations on trip, make-up and model.
However whilst it has cornered the Chinese language marketplace, it hasn’t won a lot prominence past the Chinese language-speaking international. Till now.
Xiaohongshu is surging in reputation international in the similar week that TikTok may just doubtlessly move offline in the United States.
US cellular downloads of Xiaohongshu virtually tripled during the last week, in comparison to the seven days ahead of, San Francisco-based marketplace intelligence company Sensor Tower informed The Gentleman Report on Tuesday.
Throughout the span of 2 days, greater than 700,000 new customers have joined Xiaohongshu, Reuters reported, mentioning an individual on the subject of the corporate. The Gentleman Report has reached out to Xiaohongshu for remark.
As of Wednesday, the hashtag “TikTok refugee” had garnered just about 250 million perspectives and over 5.5 million feedback. Lots of the American customers that they had joined as an act of defiance towards Washington’s transfer on TikTok.
“Our executive is out in their minds if they believe we’re going to face for this TikTok ban,” a consumer known as Heather Roberts stated in a video message on Xiaohongshu, which has garnered greater than 45,000 likes. “We’re simply going to a brand new Chinese language app, and right here we’re.”
“That is such a lot higher than TikTok,” any other self-proclaimed “refugee” stated in video message. “American citizens are coming right here … so sorry you’ll hate us, however I promise we’ll do our highest.”
How are Chinese language and American customers interacting at the platform?
The unexpected migration of US customers to Xiaohongshu has created an not likely platform for Chinese language and American customers to engage with every different.
“I simply need to reassure you that we would like to take a look at to have the opportunity to keep in touch with you, be respectful on your group,” one consumer stated. “We need to be just right visitors.”
Some American freshmen have appealed to their compatriots to recognize Chinese language customers at the platform.
“Only a fast message for the American customers coming over right here: Please don’t convey politics right here. We need to have amusing right here, we need to experience right here, and we need to display recognize to the people who find themselves already right here,” one consumer posted.
Maximum Chinese language customers have warmly welcomed the beginners, with some even sharing video tutorials to lend a hand the brand new “TikTok refugees” navigate the app.
“This is usually a ancient second,” one Chinese language consumer commented. “It seems like such a lot has modified straight away. Abnormal other folks from our two nations have by no means truly hooked up ahead of … I am hoping everybody can take this transient probability to have interaction in significant exchanges of concepts.”
One individual even seized the chance offered via the inflow of American netizens to invite for lend a hand with their English homework in a viral submit that garnered over 2,000 likes.
Ivy Yang, a China tech analyst and founding father of consulting company Wavelet Technique, stated the brand new American customers had “hastily created probably the most natural varieties of cultural change between the United States and China we’ve noticed in recent times.”
“Customers are discovering inventive techniques to go beyond language obstacles, navigate cultural variations, and co-exist in attention-grabbing techniques,” she added. “This group development going down in actual time will have lasting have an effect on, and I’m cautiously constructive.”
For a short lived length in 2021, equivalent exchanges have been additionally noticed at the social media app Clubhouse, the place Chinese language and American customers engaged in uncensored discussion on delicate subjects in digital chat rooms, ahead of Chinese language censors intervened to dam the app.
As of Tuesday, just a “very small percentage” of posts via American beginners on Xiaohongshu touched on delicate subjects in China, the place on-line discourse is thoroughly censored, in line with an research via media intelligence company PeakMetrics.
Neatly, for starters, Xiaohongshu wasn’t designed for English audio system, whilst TikTok isn’t in China in any respect.
Xiaohongshu’s identify might be noticed as a tongue-in-cheek connection with a red-covered guide of quotations from the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.
One of the vital app’s key options is its content material set of rules, which specializes in consumer pursuits somewhat than the folk they apply. Some customers say this fosters extra authentic content material and decreases the dominance of tough influencers.
The corporate at the back of the app, Xingin Data Era, used to be based via Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu and is headquartered in Shanghai.
TikTok is owned via Chinese language web corporate ByteDance and used to be adapted for an international target market. TikTok may be now not available in China, the place a sister app, Douyin, serves the home marketplace.
Lemon8, an approach to life group app additionally owned via ByteDance, is lately ranked because the second-most downloaded app on Apple’s US retailer.
Lemon8 has a equivalent video sharing serve as as TikTok. Modeled after Instagram and Pinterest, it used to be first introduced in the United States in 2023.
It’s unclear whether or not the looming ban on TikTok may additionally jeopardize Lemon8’s operations in the United States.
America regulation handed via Congress final yr states that the divest-or-ban requirement will normally practice to all apps which might be owned or operated via ByteDance, that means that even supposing Lemon8 used to be now not explicitly discussed within the statute, the ban may additionally prolong to the platform.
The Gentleman Report has reached out to ByteDance for remark.
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