RedNote Migration

2025

Date: 13-19 January 2025 · Place: Xiaohongshu app, US-China internet bridge · Figures: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book / RedNote) staff · TikTok refugees calling themselves TikTok refugees · the bewildered Chinese user base · Tags: TikTok Ban, Migration, RedNote 01. Choosing the Other Chinese App With the US TikTok ban set to take effect 19 January 2025, American TikTok users perform a deliberate joke of mass migration: instead of moving to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, they download Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle app marketed in English as RedNote. Within a week RedNote tops the US App Store with seven hundred thousand new American sign-ups. American users post earnest introductions in English. Chinese users respond, often in Chinese, often baffled. The cross-cultural exchange runs for six days before the Supreme Court upholds the TikTok ban on 17 January and Donald Trump announces a 75-day enforcement pause on 19 January. 02. The English Lesson Bit The dominant meme format inside the week is American users offering to pay their Chinese spies, with Chinese users replying in mock-stern voice that the spy fee is one cat photo. English-language learning content thrives. The Mandarin word for kitty trends in the US. TikTok goes back online late on 19 January, but RedNote keeps a fraction of the migrants. Sources • The Wall Street Journal, 'Americans Flock to Chinese App RedNote' (14 January 2025) • BBC News, 'RedNote tops US App Store ahead of TikTok ban' (14 January 2025) • AP News, 'TikTok ban timeline: Supreme Court ruling and Trump pause' (19 January 2025)