In a few days, TikTok could be banned in the United States, making the app unusable and unavailable in app stores. Instead of settling for Instagram Reels, people searched for a closer alternative and found a Chinese social media app called RedNote or Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book.” It soared to the top of the Apple App Store download list, and, according to Reuters, more than 700,000 users joined the service in just a few days. Obviously, RedNote is not the only app that has benefited from TikTok’s looming ban. Chinese language learning app Duolingo revealed that the number of new users learning Chinese (Putonghua) in the U.S. has increased by 216 percent year-over-year.”
Although RedNote has an English-language interface, most of its content is in Chinese, and American users are likely hoping to be able to interact with more videos. As TechCrunch notes, a graph published by Duolingo clearly shows a significant increase in the number of new users at the same time that RedNote’s popularity has skyrocketed. On TikTok, Duolingo posted videos with the hashtags #rednote and #tiktokban. In one video, a person wearing a mask of the app’s green owl mascot teaches Chinese to beginners, starting with the phrase “Welcome, TikTok refugees.”
Meanwhile, RedNote’s Chinese users receive language lessons from the app’s American importers. Right now, they are apparently learning the American slang of the Alpha generation and TikTok trends such as “my shayla” and “Raw”. Next question.” Chinese users are also having fun with new users, calling them “Chinese spies” and jokingly asking them to hand over their data to the Chinese government.
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has only until January 19 to sell the app’s U.S. assets to prevent its closure.
