Days before a proposed ban on the popular social media app TikTok in the United States, Chinese social media app Red Note has been flooded with new users. The little-known company is rushing to capitalize on the sudden influx while walking the fine line of managing English-language content, people told Reuters.
More than 50,000 American and Chinese users participated in a live chat dubbed “TikTok Refugees” on RedNote on Monday.
Veteran Chinese users welcomed the American users, with some trepidation, and exchanged notes on topics such as food and youth unemployment.
But from time to time, the Americans veered into more dangerous territory.
“Can I ask about the differences between the laws in China and Hong Kong?” asked one American user.
A Chinese user responded, “I don't want to talk about it here.”
Such impromptu cultural exchanges were happening across Red Note, which is known as “Xiaohongshu” in China, as it rose to the top of the US download rankings this week. Its popularity was boosted by American social media users who were looking for an alternative to ByteDance-owned TikTok in the days ahead of its impending ban.
More than 700,000 new users have joined Xiaohongshu in just two days, a person close to the company told Reuters. Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Downloads of Red Note in the U.S. rose more than 200% year-over-year this week and were up 194% from the previous week, 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 spike last month, with downloads up about 190% in December. The number reached 3.4 million.
The influx appears to have taken RedNote by surprise, with two people familiar with the company telling Reuters it is scrambling to find ways to manage its English content and build English-to-Chinese translation tools. .
RedNote doesn't split the app into international and domestic apps and only maintains one version. This is unusual among Chinese social apps, which are subject to domestic moderation rules.
Still, the company is keen to mine the sudden surge in attention, as executives see this as a potential path to global popularity similar to TikTok.
RedNote, a venture capital-backed startup whose latest valuation was $17 billion, allows users to curate photos, videos, and text that document their lives. The company is considered an IPO candidate in China.
In recent years, it has become the de facto search engine for more than 300 million users looking for travel tips, anti-aging creams, and restaurant recommendations.
Shares of some Chinese listed companies that trade with Red Note, such as Hangzhou One Chance Tech, rose as much as 20% on Tuesday, reaching daily limits.
The surge in U.S. users comes ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok in the U.S. on national security grounds or face a U.S. ban.
TikTok is currently used by about 170 million Americans, about half of the U.S. population, and is overwhelmingly popular with young people and advertisers looking to reach them.
Stella Kittrell, a 29-year-old content creator based in Baltimore, Maryland, said, “Americans using Red Note give a cheeky middle finger to the U.S. government for going too far with business and privacy concerns.'' I feel like I'm being held back,” he said. A Chinese company that she used as a reference.
Some users said they joined the platform to find an alternative to Facebook, Instagram and Elon Musk's X, both owned by Meta Platforms. Some users expressed doubts that these apps could rebuild TikTok's follower base.
“Instagram, X, and other apps are not the same,” said Brian Atavansi, 29, a business analyst and content creator based in San Diego, California. “Mainly because of how organic it is to build a community on TikTok,” he says.
