New users in U.S. embrace warm interactions, peek into different worlds
"TikTok refugees" who moved to RedNote share greeting videos on Jan 19. A planned U.S. ban on TikTok has been postponed by the Trump administration. (Photo provided to CHINA DAILY)
A 57-year-old United States woman known online as "Mary Jo", has quickly gained 105,000 followers on the increasingly popular Chinese lifestyle-sharing platform RedNote.
"When the TikTok ban was looming, the entire TikTok community was desperately searching for places to stay connected," said Mary Jo. "We have formed very deep bonds in recent years, many of us connecting while we were in quarantine during COVID. It felt crucial to stay together somehow."
Her embrace of RedNote has allowed her to experience the beauty and brilliance of Chinese culture, she said.
One of the videos she shared shows how moved she is by the connections and interactions she has formed with Chinese users on the platform. It received over 165,000 likes.
Mary Jo said she discovered RedNote when she saw a video on TikTok by a young man who spoke highly of the lifestyle platform. While TikTok is primarily a video-sharing platform, RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, founded in 2013, focuses more on lifestyle content generated from multiple sources and is predominantly in Chinese.
With TikTok Mary Jo's only active social media at the time, she decided to give Red-Note a try. The platform was witnessing a surge in interest from the United States, with hundreds of thousands of users creating videos praising its features and appeal.
She believes RedNote is designed to foster a sense of community, even within its marketplace, adding it provides her with feelings of warmth and inclusiveness.
A simple video she made about chickens, for example, sparked a flood of comments that featured scenic landscapes, pet photos, and family moments.
Mary Jo said she has many friends who are planning to become active on RedNote to enjoy a "truly fulfilling" social media experience. She said she would continue to use RedNote as long as she is allowed.
"TikTok refugees" who moved to RedNote share greeting videos on Jan 19. A planned U.S. ban on TikTok has been postponed by the Trump administration. (Photo provided to CHINA DAILY)
New environment
In January, a U.S. Supreme Court-enforced ban of TikTok instigated by the Biden administration prompted a significant migration of its users to RedNote.
However, TikTok has remained available in app stores in the U.S., following a decision by President Donald Trump to delay the proposed ban on the platform. The ban, due to so-called national security concerns, was postponed for 75 days via an executive order, with the possibility of further extensions, Xinhua News Agency reported.
On fears of the TikTok ban, RedNote's number of users in the United States soared from about 300,000 to 3 million in a week, according to U.S.-based PC Magazine.
Many of these self-proclaimed "TikTok refugees" were concerned that if TikTok was banned, there would be nothing to replace it.
Makeenie Robinson, a former TikTok user and graduate student in her early 20s, said it was bound to be tough for people to "just get up and move on".
"We saw when it (TikTok) had only been over for a few hours. People were constantly going back and clicking," she said of the initial ban, adding it was hard for people to let go of TikTok because it was an integral part of their routine.
However, if RedNote was the next big trend, people needed to be part of it, said Robinson. "Being TikTok 'refugees' is just another way of saying they need to relocate to a social media environment that provides the same enjoyment," she said.
Tito Colon, an American in his 20s, said he is more attached to the content than to the platform itself. On some levels he mourned the loss of TikTok, but he added he is ready to move on to the next platform.
Colon said he found it funny that people protested the situation by doing exactly what the U.S. government feared. While he didn't consider himself a "TikTok refugee" or switch to RedNote, he understands why others did, as these platforms serve as outlets for self-expression.
Adrien Halliez, a political science professor at Drake University with expertise in politics and mass media, described it as a "Gen Z problem".
"TikTok is a platform that appeals to the younger generations in the U.S., Gen Z specifically, and some millennials. When you think about the decision of a ban, you're thinking about something that alters their daily lives," said Halliez, adding it was the first time many of them had felt the impact of a political decision on their lives.
"For those disinterested in politics, they see something they enjoy daily, sometimes for hours, taken away. So there is a tendency to dramatize or feel emotional about the ban and use terms like 'refugee'," he said.
TikTok's base is younger when compared with other platforms like X and Facebook, which also have a greater mix of users. Fifty-five percent of TikTok users are under 30 and are mainly young Gen Z people, according to analysis by Exploding Topics.
Halliez believes that while the ban primarily affects Gen Z, it could set a precedent for broader restrictions that might impact future generations.
Visitors inspect the RedNote booth at the 31st China International Advertising Festival in Xiamen, Fujian province, in November. (Photo provided to CHINA DAILY)
A challenging change
Robinson started using TikTok in her freshman college year in 2020. At first, she joined just to follow a trend and fit in with her friends. But she gradually became immersed in its endless stream of viral videos and was mainly interested in those featuring comedy, cooking, and travel.
TikTok has also given her fond memories.
During graduation season, she uploaded a few photos of herself with her academic cap slightly tilted, gown flowing, and the light casting a warm glow on her. Comments flooded in, filled with congratulations and heart emojis. Both strangers and friends praised her appearance and academic achievements. She said it felt good, almost surreal, to be seen and celebrated by so many people.
However, a few years later, tragedy struck. Friends of hers from the African American community at the University of Virginia died in a mass shooting. News spread fast, but so did misinformation, Robinson said.
Wild theories filled her feed, with people spinning narratives that had no regard for the truth. She had seen misinformation online before, but this time, it was personal. Seeing people recklessly twist the story was heart-wrenching and she realized just how easily falsehoods overtake the truth when people didn't look beyond TikTok.
She said she realized that TikTok, like all social media, is a curated version of reality, not reality itself.
While uncertain about the growth of social media, Robinson still finds the influx of Americans on RedNote interesting. Her first impression was that many users transitioned to it as an alternative to TikTok, despite its less user-friendly interface due to the cultural and language barrier.
Many people find RedNote, full of unfamiliar voices and languages, both culturally challenging and interesting.
Robinson said she loves to see how other people around the world live through the eyes of different content creators.
When she scrolls through her feed, her interest is piqued by screen glimpses into the unknown, such as videos about an African woman and her Chinese husband raising their children in a quiet Chinese village.
She has also been intrigued by videos of a street vendor flipping crispy scallion pancakes, and a family gathered around a steaming hot pot on a winter night. Robinson loves these small, everyday moments that to her are different and intimate.
In her country, Robinson believes the world beyond the U.S.' borders is barely explained and her country's culture is stifling and insular. Most media content revolves around the U.S., and Americans seem unaware of what's happening elsewhere in the world, she said.
On TikTok, that reality is amplified. Even though there is some European influence, the overwhelming focus is on American trends, American voices and American perspectives. Robinson said she craves cultural content viewed through a wider lens.
Yannan Zhang, a loyal user of RedNote in the U.S., interned at the company.
She believes this "refugee" phenomenon has prompted RedNote's native users to generate content around the trend that mimics it, and expands on cross-cultural exchanges.
The reaction to Western RedNote users has also generated content that playfully spreads Chinese culture, effectively opening up a new pool of content. As a result, more users are eager to produce content that revolves around TikTok "refugees", she said.
Halliez believes that in terms of cultural communication, an app focused on instant messaging between users is more valuable than one centered on sharing posts. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that platforms like RedNote can still promote awareness by showing similarities in everyday life between people in the U.S. and China.
Finding common ground — whether through shared experiences or similar reactions to different themes — can help bridge cultural divides. While any interaction is beneficial for cross-cultural understanding and easing political tensions, meaningful change takes time, he said. Extended engagement is necessary for social media interactions to truly shift opinions, and any significant impact is likely to only be visible in the long run.
"From a psychological perspective, the idea of having contact between groups is the beginning of diffusing the tensions," said Halliez.
