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At least as of this writing, we’re still awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on TikTok’s future, but users of the app aren’t waiting to find out what happens next.
Over the past few days, TikTok alternatives like Clapper, Flip and TikTok’s own Lemon8 have topped the App Store charts. The most popular among them, Xiaohongshumade the biggest impression on him Over 700,000 new users.
The exodus—which was spurred by attempted bans and driven by sheer malaise—demonstrates how pointless efforts to protect Americans from a “dangerous” app have been, taking more than five years. In fact, the effort has seemingly made things worse for those in power.
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Just dessert!
Time and again, the US government has said its main goal in banning TikTok has always been to protect American users from Chinese propaganda and protect their data.
I think it’s fair to say that, unsurprisingly, the government messed up. big time
In just a few days, Xiaohongshu – which means “Little Red Book” in English – has turned US-China relations on their head. The app was founded in 2013 and works like a Chinese version of Instagram. Not only are Americans using videos and images on an app that actively censors content related to Tiananmen Square and shows nothing when searching for “Xi Jinping,” but they’re vindictively agreeing to the app tracking their data. All around, the result is the opposite of what the US intelligence community wanted.
Many Americans are suggesting how to better integrate Xiaohongshu with its predominantly Chinese user base. A TikTok user Posted a video New American users this week are being asked to “stop saying democracy” on the app. “If you’re Taiwanese,” he said, “and you live in Xiaohongshu, you’re Chinese now. Sorry.” I did not find a single piece of criticism in his comments section. In fact, many users were thanking him for the tips.
If anything, the effort to ban TikTok has inspired more interest in China among Americans than anything else. TikTok users are learning Mandarin by chatting with Chinese Xiaohongshu users or by downloading language learning apps like Duolingo.
“Started learning from creators on Duolingo and Red Note [or Xiaohongshu]”One TikTok user wrote to me. “Even added a Chinese keyboard option to my phone.”
“Downloaded Red Note and had my first Duolingo Chinese lesson this morning 😂,” said another.
“Oh so now you’re learning Mandarin,” X accounts for Duolingo Posted on Tuesday Responding to rising interest rates.
Duolingo spokeswoman Monica Earle told Wired there was a 216 percent increase in new Duolingo users signing up to learn Chinese. When someone signs up for a Duolingo account, they’re asked to fill out a survey explaining how they found the app, and the company has noticed “a corresponding spike” in users choosing “TikTok” as the reason they joined Duolingo.
