EGN NEWS DESK
Manimatana Lee spent the previous 5 years constructing one of many hottest commodities on the web: a bunch of people that reliably watch her movies on TikTok.
She constructed an viewers of practically 10,000 followers with movies of herself vacuuming her home in Wisconsin whereas her youngest daughter napped in a service on her again. A video of Ms. Lee dancing and doing the dishes — whereas carrying her sleeping child — has been watched a couple of million instances since November.
Now, with the Supreme Court quickly to rule in a case that might decide whether or not TikTok may very well be banned within the United States over nationwide safety considerations, Ms. Lee and different Americans on the lookout for options are downloading Xiaohongshu, a social media app that’s standard in China and little identified outdoors the nation.
“How humorous would it not be in the event that they ban TikTok and all of us simply transfer over to this Chinese app,” Ms. Lee wrote on Monday on TikTok encouraging her followers to affix her.
Xiaohongshu was probably the most downloaded free app within the U.S. Apple retailer on Tuesday. Over 300 million folks, principally in China, use the app, the place they share brief movies in addition to nonetheless, text-based posts. People flocking to it mentioned, in interviews and on the app, that they wished to indicate they don’t share Washington’s considerations about TikTok’s ties to China.
TikTok, which is on the market in additional than 150 international locations however not China, is owned by the Chinese web firm ByteDance. American creators who put up movies on TikTok say the app has been a supply of connection, leisure and data because it grew to become a sensation through the Covid-19 pandemic. Its secret sauce is its proprietary algorithm, expertise that recommends a relentless stream of brief movies focused to maintain folks scrolling.
But lawmakers within the United States and different international locations have warned that the Chinese authorities may use TikTok to entry information about its customers comparable to location and looking histories. Officials in Washington say they’re additionally involved that China may use TikTok to unfold false data among the many 170 million individuals who use it within the United States.
Xiaohongshu means “little pink ebook” in Mandarin. Americans new to the app mentioned they weren’t postpone by the reference to a ebook of Mao Zedong’s sayings. Many name the app “Red Note.”
“I don’t actually care if I’m utilizing a Chinese app in any respect,” mentioned Ms. Lee. “It’s like a spot for me to flee actuality. And if it’s making me really feel good, I’m right here for it.”
A bunch of American creators have sued the federal government over the legislation that might see the TikTok app forcibly bought or banned within the United States, and TikTok is paying their authorized charges. Ms. Lee and one other creator mentioned in interviews that their curiosity in Xiaohongshu had not been incentivized by both firm. TikTok didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The Americans on Xiaohongshu have rallied underneath the hashtag “TikTokrefugee,” which had been seen 100 million instances and sparked round 2.5 million dialogue threads on the app by Tuesday.
Joining the app has put American customers in nearer contact with folks on-line in China than they’ve ever been on TikTok. In China, folks use Douyin, a really comparable app that ByteDance used to develop the expertise that made TikTok a worldwide hit. Douyin is tough to entry outdoors China.
Many shared recommendations on find out how to navigate the app, which is principally made for and utilized by individuals who learn and communicate Mandarin. Some took screenshots and requested ChatGPT to translate posts, they mentioned.
Xiaohongshu shows the town or province of Chinese customers who put up and remark, and the nation for customers outdoors China. “We are coming to the Chinese spies and begging them to allow us to keep right here,” mentioned one American consumer. “Approved, welcome to Red Note,” somebody in Shanghai replied.
Until late December, 85 p.c of Xiaohongshu site visitors was from China, in keeping with Similarweb, a knowledge supplier and web site site visitors tracker. The app is particularly standard amongst ladies of their 20s and 30s, and its lengthy remark threads have turn into a well-liked supply of knowledge for folks to swap questions on on a regular basis considerations, just like Reddit.
Xiaohongshu didn’t reply to requests for remark.
On Tuesday, greater than 100,000 folks had joined a stay group chat hosted by a consumer named “TikTok Refugee Club,” the place folks from world wide chatted with Chinese customers about city security. In one other group chat, which had been seen greater than 30,000 instances, contributors mentioned censorship and shared suggestions within the feedback on find out how to keep away from being banned from the platform for mentioning politically delicate subjects.
Under one other video posted by somebody who mentioned they have been often on TikTok, a consumer in China responded with a meme of a cat with paws outstretched. “I’m your Chinese spy,” the remark mentioned, “give me all of your information.”
