TikTok’s imminent ban in the United States has caused a mass exodus from the social media platform, but it may not be what North Americans were expecting. The move boosted the Chinese app Red Note to first place on many app stores.
Red Note is distinctly Chinese and leftist, even down to the app’s name which is named after the second highest-selling book in history after the Bible, The Little Red Book by Mao Zedong. The book was the inspiration for the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
The app was originally toted as China’s answer to Instagram by its creator Xiaohongshu. Despite this, it is being seen as a place of refuge for those leaving TikTok.
TikTok underwent similar bans in India in 2020 when Indian users were told that the platform’s services were no longer available in their country, a message that may be sent to the 170 million American users on Jan. 19.
The 14 million Canadian users tempted to follow American creators over to Red Note should be aware the app operates differently from the platform they’ve been using.
Red Note is a Chinese app, and most of the text will not be in English. While the app is very welcoming and has posts teaching basic slang and phrases, most content is published without any Latin text, and all of the settings default to Simplified Chinese, making navigation an issue. Downloading the language learning app Duolingo or a translation app to navigate may be necessary.
Using the app on a personal computer with the Google Translate plugin also works wonders.
Red Note is far more openly leftist than TikTok, people who create accounts and put political subjects in their interests will be greeted very quickly with images of historical figures like Mao, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin and pre-Second World War German communist leader Ernst Thälmann among other esoteric leftist figures.
The app also totes a culture of authenticity at a higher level than TikTok. Xiaohongshu invested heavily in removing fraudulent content from their platform after controversy in 2021, and their community guidelines require that all material posted come from the account owner’s own experiences and creation.
Some content may not be able to translate over to the app from TikTok. Xiaohongshu’s community standards do not allow erotic novels on the platform, so much of BookTok might have to change the way users present their content if they transfer.
Xiaohongshu also openly does not allow anti-socialist content on their app, actively removing fascist and imperialist content and stating its values are in line with that of contemporary Chinese culture which will clash with those who use apps which are in line with contemporary American culture.
New users should check the terms and services, as well as community guidelines before posting, as they are very different than TikTok.
This mass media migration has also allowed Westerners to talk directly with Chinese people about their opinions on their own lives and the government they live under. One post asking what Chinese citizens think about government censorship and what they can discuss was responded to by many users in the comment section.
“Many topics here can be discussed with tolerance. We place more emphasis on stable communication that does not hurt anyone,” a user said.
“We can speak freely, but we usually don't publish conspiracy theories about politics on social media platforms and the platforms will ban such content,” another said.
Posts about what Chinese people think about Canada bring up figures like Dr. Norman Bethune and Justin Trudeau, who are seen positively and negatively.
