TikTok’s short-lived “death” spurred thousands of Americans to flock to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu also known as RedNote.
However, some students drew a blank when asked if they were familiar with the app.
Among those familiar with it, none had downloaded the TikTok rival, citing various reasons. One common theme was attempts to avoid social media altogether. James Washington said he stayed off RedNote for the same reason he avoided TikTok: to avoid doomscrolling. Rosa Herrera echoed similar sentiments. She said she “didn’t want to be on social media anymore.”
Another perspective was a dislike for the app’s layout, which is similar to TikTok’s. Carston Long said, “I’m not a whole fan of the TikTok format. I much prefer Instagram and Facebook.”
Kent Ho’s reasons for not downloading RedNote were due to his political stance on the Chinese Communist Party and concerns about censorship. “As an activist who supports Taiwan, the Uyghur Muslims, Hong Kong, the Tibetans and many activists living here, I definitely would not be on there, because if I was on there – and I’m so critical of the Chinese regime– I would definitely be kicked off within 15 minutes of being on there.”
Was the migration to RedNote just a fad? Some Richland students believed so. Washington said many were returning to TikTok after the ban was lifted, but he and Long believed that the new communities were here to stay. Yonata Kidane provided a nuanced perspective, saying, “I honestly think RedNote is something. That will become the next TikTok if people allow it to be. If it doesn’t, TikTok will come back.”
Ho didn’t see RedNote’s potential in the long term and did not foresee a separate version for U.S. citizens coming out. “By then, people have already moved back to TikTok.. So, what was the point? Going onto Xiaohongshu, you’re risking your whole entire data. They can go ahead and stay on that and get all their data completely harvested. If any Chinese activist were to say one thing whatsoever and they come back to China, maybe something might happen to them.”
RedNote may have dominated rankings on American app stores, but at Richland, remains king. Whether it fades into obscurity or rises to new heights, the app is a larger conversation about data privacy, the U.S. and China’s ongoing tech rivalry and China’s growing influence in the digital world.
