Manimatana Lee has spent the past five years building one of the most popular products on the internet: a group of people who reliably watch her videos on TikTok.
She gained nearly 10,000 followers after posting a video of her younger daughter taking a nap on her back in a baby carrier while she vacuumed her home in Wisconsin. Videos of Lee dancing and washing dishes with her sleeping baby on her head have been viewed more than a million times since November.
Now, with the Supreme Court expected to rule soon in a case that could determine whether TikTok can be banned in the United States due to national security concerns, Lee and others are looking for alternatives. Americans are downloading Xiaohongshu, a popular social media app in the United States. It is little known in China and abroad.
“How funny would it be if they banned TikTok and we all moved to this Chinese app,” Li wrote on TikTok on Monday, encouraging her followers to join in.
Xiaohongshu became the most downloaded free app in the US Apple Store on Tuesday. More than 300 million people, mostly in China, use the app to share text-based posts of short videos and still images. Those flocking to the move said in interviews and on the app that they wanted to show they didn't share the U.S. government's concerns about TikTok's relationship with China.
TikTok is available in more than 150 countries, but not in China, where it is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. U.S. creators who post videos on TikTok say the app has become a source of connection, entertainment and information since it became a sensation during the coronavirus pandemic. Its secret sauce is a proprietary algorithm, a technology that recommends a continuous stream of short videos meant to keep users scrolling.
But lawmakers in the U.S. and other countries have warned that the Chinese government could use TikTok to access data about users, including their location and browsing history. Washington officials said they were also concerned that China could use TikTok to spread false information to the 170 million people who use TikTok in the United States.
Xiaohongshu means “little red book” in Mandarin. Americans using the app for the first time said they felt comfortable referring to a book of Mao Zedong's quotes. Many people refer to this app as “Red Note”.
“I don’t really care if you use Chinese apps or not,” Lee said. “This is like an escapist place for me. If it makes me feel better, I'm here.”
A group of American creators is suing the government over a law that could force the TikTok app to be sold or banned in the United States, and TikTok is paying the legal costs. Lee and another creator said in an interview that their interest in Xiaohongshu was not motivated by either company. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
Americans using Xiaohongshu have rallied around the hashtag “TikTok Refugees,” which by Tuesday had been viewed 100 million times and sparked about 2.5 million discussion threads on the app.
By joining the app, American users can now have closer contact with Chinese people online than ever before on TikTok. In China, people are using Douyin, a very similar app that ByteDance used to develop the technology that made TikTok a global hit. Douyin is difficult to access from outside China.
Many tips have been shared on how to navigate the app. This app is mainly created for and used by people who read and speak Chinese. Some people took screenshots and asked ChatGPT to translate their posts.
Xiaohongshu displays the city or province of Chinese users who posted and commented, and the country for non-Chinese users. “We're coming to the Chinese spies and begging them to let us stay here,” said one American user. “Approved. Welcome to Red Note,” someone in Shanghai replied.
According to data provider and website traffic tracker Similarweb, 85% of Xiaohongshu traffic came from China until the end of December. The app is particularly popular with women in their 20s and 30s, and its long comment threads have become a popular source for people to exchange questions about everyday worries, similar to Reddit.
Xiaohongshu did not respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, more than 100,000 people joined a live group chat hosted by a user called “TikTok Refugee Club,” in which people from all over the world chatted with Chinese users about safety in cities. In another group chat, which has been viewed more than 30,000 times, participants discussed censorship and shared tips in the comments on how to avoid being banned from the platform for bringing up politically sensitive topics.
In another video posted by a regular TikTok user, Chinese users responded with a meme of a cat with its paws spread. The comment read: “I'm your Chinese spy. Give me all your data.”
