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TikTok Users Flocks To Chinese Social App Xiaohongshu (apnews.com) 153

hackingbear shares a report from the Associated Press: As the threat of a TikTok ban looms, U.S. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu -- making it the top downloaded app in the U.S. Xiaohongshu, which in English means "Little Red Book" is a Chinese social media app that combines e-commerce, short video and posting functions, enticing mostly Chinese young women from mainland China and regions with with a Chinese diaspora such as Malaysia and Taiwan who use it as a de-facto search engine for product, travel and restaurant recommendations, as well as makeup and skincare tutorials. After the justices seemed inclined to let the law stand, masses of TikTok users began creating accounts on Xiaohongshu, including hashtags such as #tiktokrefugee or #tiktok to their posts. "

I like your makeup," a Xiaohongshu user from Beijing comments one of the posts by Alexis Garman, a 21-year-old TikTok user in Oklahoma with nearly 20,000 followers, and Garman thanks them in a reply. A user from the southwestern province of Sichuan commented "I am your Chinese spy please surrender your personal information or the photographs of your cat (or dog)." "TikTok possibly getting banned doesn't just take away an app, it takes away jobs, friends and community," Garman said. "Personally, the friends and bond I have with my followers will now be gone." Xiaohongshu doesn't even have an English user interface.
Reuters reports: In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, a person close to the company told Reuters. Xiaohongshu [which was founded in 2013 and is backed by investors such as Alibaba, Tencent and Sequoia], did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. downloads of RedNote were up more than 200% year-over-year this week, and 194% from the week prior, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower. The second most-popular free app on Apple's App Store list on Tuesday, Lemon8, another social media app owned by ByteDance, experienced a similar surge last month, with downloads jumping by 190% in December to about 3.4 million.
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TikTok Users Flocks To Chinese Social App Xiaohongshu

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  • Hehehe (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @05:27AM (#65090117)

    I have a little red book printed in China.

    It is full of wisdom and bright promises for the future.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      You mean el Bunko's Bible that he hawking?

      • Re:Hehehe (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Entrope ( 68843 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @07:48AM (#65090297) Homepage

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        Do they not teach history to the kids these days? Get off my lawn!

        • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

          by GlennC ( 96879 )

          Do they not teach history to the kids these days?

          Apparently they don't, otherwise we'd recognize how the United States is in the exact situation that Germany was in 1933.

          https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/germany-1933-democracy-dictatorship/ [annefrank.org]

    • Yeah, I noticed that too. It's disturbing. Almost as disturbing as the apparent lack of awareness regarding that little red book of evil.
      • I am a bit depressed, but not surprised.

        • by GoTeam ( 5042081 )
          As soon as I read "Little Red Book" in the summary, I was sure that would be the biggest topic of discussion. It's insane how little knowledge of history the people on here have these days. An app that translates to that should scare the shit out of people, not cause them to fawn over it.
          • The actual name of Mao's book is hong bao shu (the red treasure book), so xiao hong shu (small red book) is not a direct-direct reference, but still...

            • by GoTeam ( 5042081 )

              The actual name of Mao's book is hong bao shu (the red treasure book), so xiao hong shu (small red book) is not a direct-direct reference, but still...

              That's good to know. In popular culture in the US we've mostly called it the "Little Red Book", but knowing what the actual translation is helps.

              • It was called "Little Red Book" behind the Iron Curtain (when there was an Iron Curtain) as well, so I guess it is universal. That other little red book was known as the Manifesto :)

            • by keltor ( 99721 ) *
              All references to "red books" in China are references to Mao. In fact the name of most apps is almost always a reference to something either directly political OR something that's intentionally avoiding the 100s of weird random political references. At one point in time there was actually a document floating around in China that listed all these weird random references because for 99% of the population, they have no clue.

              A Chinese chef scheduled a recipe video to be released on a certain day and that beca
              • All references to "red books" in China are references to Mao.

                This one is pretty blatant, yeah. When I say not direct-direct, I mean it ain't using the proper name.

              • The actual name of Mao's book is hong bao shu (the red treasure book), so xiao hong shu (small red book) is not a direct-direct reference, but still...

                All references to "red books" in China are references to Mao. In fact the name of most apps is almost always a reference to something either directly political OR something that's intentionally avoiding the 100s of weird random political references. At one point in time there was actually a document floating around in China that listed all these weird random references because for 99% of the population, they have no clue. A Chinese chef scheduled a recipe video to be released on a certain day and that became a weird random political statement, except he clearly had no clue because nobody actually did but these weird random patriot groups. The app developers probably doesn't actually care and were just playing off Mao's book.

                Yeah exactly. it's the equivalent to saying "SchmaSmortion" and then going "They didn't say abortion it's a totally different word". You don't just say "red book" willy nilly in China.

          • I don't know about scare, but it definitely amuses.
            If it is, indeed, a reference to Mao's little red book- what a fucking bizarre and drippingly ironic example of why I don't want the US government trying to curate my information.
            • by GoTeam ( 5042081 )

              I don't know about scare, but it definitely amuses. If it is, indeed, a reference to Mao's little red book- what a fucking bizarre and drippingly ironic example of why I don't want the US government trying to curate my information.

              I'm with you 100% on that!

  • ...did something and it's NEWS.

    Much like "content creators" and the sheer volume of garbage they're spamming global networks with - the people who care about this noise aren't worth paying attention to.

  • by Bruce66423 ( 1678196 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @06:13AM (#65090177)

    In the old days, useful idiots had to be taken round show sites in Stalin's autocracy before they would tell the world that the place was wonderful. Amazingly, such people exist to this day: a UK communist party member went to the home of the Uighurs and, having come back, trotted out the Chinese claims that it's a paradise there, there's freedom of religion and noone is being reeducated.

    By contrast the new generation of Western Chinese app users have zero knowledge of the horrors of Chinese rule of their colonial possessions such as Tibet and Xinjiang, they just know what they like. And, of course, American social media are banned from China; I've yet to discover why the US government isn't playing that card as a justification for blocking TikTok etc.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Or maybe they are comparing it to the actual reality of the horrors in Gaza and now realize US is full of shit.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

      By contrast the new generation of Western Chinese app users have zero knowledge of the horrors of Chinese rule

      [Citation Required]. The thing is simply using something from China, or not caring about the atrocities committed does not mean someone does know about it.

      I've yet to discover why the US government isn't playing that card as a justification for blocking TikTok etc.

      Probably because there's nothing to back this up, and because influencers on TikTok are not hosting anti-Tiananmen-Square reeducation challenges to get likes. It turns out people watch stupid videos and understand the difference between that and a history textbook.

      You may think TikTok is lame, but kids aren't substituting it for actual education.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      There is no "UK communist party". There is a "Communist Party of Britain", but they have about 1000 members and I don't think have ever managed to get elected anywhere. I can't find any references to one of them traveling to China, but if they did likely only their own members would have noticed.

      Propper Red Scare bullshit, in other words. Ironic, given the claims being made.

    • Doublethink much? If they are oh so evil, why are we still doing business with them? They are actually our third largest business partner after Canada (soon to be annexed) and Mexico (the ones paying for the wall)
  • Never heard of it. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @06:22AM (#65090193)

    First it was Lemon8 last week. Now it’s whatever this is supppsed to be. Either way, 700K users hardly represents some massive shift. Or the future of child social media. Fucking AOL still has more users than that, Zoomer Boomers.

    But yeah, sell me again how it’s the future of your stock portfolio. Lies by any click necessary. And we wonder who no human will remember what it’s like to trust anyone or anything soon.

    • I wonder why you've never heard of it...

      Xiaohongshu doesn't even have an English user interface.

      Maybe it's not targeted at you...

      • I wonder why you've never heard of it...

        Xiaohongshu doesn't even have an English user interface.

        Maybe it's not targeted at you...

        Uh huh. Ban it from America and see which country bitches the loudest. Any why.

  • by sTERNKERN ( 1290626 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @06:47AM (#65090233)
    How stupid do You have to be to ban an APP and not the ways/methods it is frowned upon? Creating another one takes about 5 minutes or less and they have been chewing on the topic of banning the app for months/years.
    • The law actually provides a simple framework for banning any foreign app on national security grounds, it's not specific to TikTok. It's really an extension of powers that have existed since the country began, and are frequently used to do things like block the sale of US assets to foreign buyers. This is really just another "same thing, but on the internet" moment, not something radically new.

  • What's a good reddit that's not reddit?
  • People are so desperate for mediocrity that they join social media sites in a language they can't even read.

    The mind boggles.

    • People are so desperate for mediocrity that they join social media sites in a language they can't even read.

      The mind boggles.

      I mean with the money they're making I can't say I haven't been tempted. I recently discovered JJJacksFilms and his videos are about how stupid reaction channels are. But looking at it I'm seeing channels that require 2% effort that are pulling down 40-60k USD if not more. Young channels too. Some of them not even showing faces. I consider myself generally ethical.. but I'm poor. I can be bought. Heck if I could get an extra 60k for like two years and then stop. I kinda might throw all the artists and actua

  • When there's a thing that's popular, but demonstrably bad...how do you get rid of it?

    Alcohol, (specifically alcohol abuse) is bad for the individual and for the community. Because of the latter, it's not a 'personal preference' thing anymore. So, they attempted to regulate it by enforcing a ban.

    TikTok is exactly the same. There's nothing wrong with a video posting service. There is something wrong when people are being harmed by that service (ie, dangerous viral challenges, misinformation, spying?) So they

  • by FrankOVD ( 4965439 ) on Wednesday January 15, 2025 @09:45AM (#65090583)
    I get why Twitter users move to Bluesky, or Mastodon. They are similar products. But doesn't the fact that TikTok users specifically search for Chinese alternative prove the point that China is using these apps to gain soft power against western citizens ? My main concern about TikTok has never been as much about data collection and privacy as it is that their algorithm, like on any other platform, can be imperceptibly skewed towards a nefarious goal over time. Most western apps skew towards advertiser's needs, and presumably towards surveillance state, which is already very bad and leads to an enshittification where products are built for the needs of shareholders and advertisers instead of their users'.

    But what happens when your 'For you' that was formerly used to get you addicted to a platform slowly switches to content design to destabilize your country or push adversarial propaganda during a conflict ? This is a whole new level of enshittification.

    I consider myself left of liberal and quite political, and I only used TikTok for a few weeks before I realized its algorithm was pushing me farther to the left and pushing more and more ideologies that aligned with China's authoritarian communist regime. I can't be the only one. This, plus the fact that this app is very addictive and serves no utilitarian purpose, led me to uninstall the app after just a few weeks. I am very wary of any TV where a foreign government holds the remote and has control over what people know, what they see, and what opinions they are exposed to as they see it.

    They have no incentive in using it too heavily until their users are hooked, and it is worth blowing their cover. What about when the time comes ? The fact that hundreds of thousands of users are made to seek Chinese alternatives to TikTok tells me that the first part of this plan is in place.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      I was much more suspicious of TikTok until I found the source of this whole panic. The only reason this is an issue * at all * is because Facebook/Meta paid millions of dollars to lobbyists to fearmonger it.

    • You had me at the title. Fully agree. You lost at me at the third sentence.
  • Someone went to the trouble of translating the Rednote (Xiaohongshu) terms of service. You'd have to be absolutely insane to accede to this: https://onedrive.live.com/?aut... [live.com]
    • by DewDude ( 537374 )

      Except none of the idiot americans that sign up will read it. They literally won't know, or care.

      A large chunk of people already have agreed. I sincerely hope they get their asses handed to them. Play stupid games with communist, win stupid prizes.

    • What are some clauses that wouldn't exist on Facebook or similar? I had a quick skim, couldn't find anything new (they have stuff like "we have the rights to whatever you post" which is usual business with social media). However I stumbled on this:

      "Users are not allowed to use new technologies and new applications based on deep learning, virtual reality, generative artificial intelligence, etc. to produce, upload, copy, transmit, disseminate information content prohibited by laws and regulations such as false news information, or misrepresent synthetic content as natural content. When you publish or disseminate non-true information based on new technologies and applications such as deep learning, virtual reality, and generative artificial intelligence, you should mark it in a conspicuous manner. Otherwise, the platform has the right to take action against relevant content and accounts, including but not including It is limited to measures such as adding labels, restrictions, and bans."

      That sounds like an improvement, no? If it would be applied honestly, rather than with the expected CCP-bias.

  • Just wait till they order that blocked too; except now they can just force the ISPs to block the traffic.

    If you flee TikTok for a literal Chinese "Red Book"...you're part of the reason this is happening. Some of us were screaming about this long before politics got involved. We saw just how anxious China was to break in to everything.

    It won't be the politicans to blame when China owns us; it will be the fault of the citizens for rolling over over some goddamn silly ass videos.

    A nation of idiots.

  • Loading this comment page, I get "tech.slashdot.org says
    This page could not be loaded properly due to incorrect / bad filtering rule(s) of adblockers in use. Please disable all adblockers to continue using the website. (click OK if you'd like to learn more)"

    I turned off my adblocker, ads are everywhere, and the option to hide ads is gone now.

    F* this. I'll be over on soylentnews instead.

  • Because, you know, it's the modern internet.
  • I started using it mostly to boost the stats so they would produce these hilarious hand-wringing articles. I'll probably check in a few times a week - but mostly I enjoy knowing that I've irritated the meta and twitters of the world who poured 10s of millions to eliminate their competition. If the gov really cared about security, they would have done more, not less, to force Meta to police misinformation from outside the US.
  • I'll see your Tik Tok ban, and raise you by one order of Freedom Fries!
  • The TikTok ban applies to any software made by a company owned or operated by a foreign adversary.

    So the ban applies to this app as well.

    The tiktok ban is so far reaching that it even makes it a crime to distribute the chinese made software that runs in chinese EVs. [slashdot.org]

    TP-Link is next.

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