With just days until TikTok goes dark for American users, many young people have found a surprising new app to download—Xiaohongshu. Also known as RedNote in English, the app has been dubbed by many as the “Chinese Instagram” and quickly became the number one most downloaded app in America on Tuesday, January 14.
Founded in 2013, RedNote is one of the most popular apps in China, with 300 million users. Much like TikTok, the app uses an algorithm to share tips for cooking, fashion, and travel. The algorithm focuses on user interests instead of followers, which many believe helps push organic content instead of prioritizing influencers. Despite TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, remaining in China, the app is also not available in the country.
The overnight popularity of RedNote has many leading market analysts scratching their heads. Following the TikTok ban, most expected Americans to migrate to Instagram, X, or Facebook—the three most popular social media apps behind TikTok. However, many are downloading RedNote as an act of defiance, even going so far as to delete their Meta and X accounts in protest of the American tech companies that lobbied for the ban through Congress.
Chinese users welcome Americans to the app, many of whom introduce themselves as “TikTok refugees.” The migration has created a unique online environment with American and Chinese users communicating freely and sharing about their cultures. “This could be a historic moment,” a Chinese user commented under a “TikTok Refugee” post. “It feels like so much has changed in an instant. Ordinary people from our two countries have never really connected before … I hope everyone can take this brief chance to engage in meaningful exchanges of ideas.”
For American users, the move to RedNote is a way to protest what they see as a government violation of free speech. “Our government is out of their minds if they think we’re going to stand for this TikTok ban,” American user Heather Robers said in a viral post made to RedNote. “We’re just going to a new Chinese app, and here we are.”
Following the impending TikTok ban, stock in American tech companies has decreased. Meta’s stock, which includes Facebook and Instagram, is down 1.76% as of Tuesday, January 14.
