Manimatana Lee spent the previous 5 years constructing one of many hottest commodities on the web: a gaggle of people that reliably watch her movies on TikTok.
She constructed an viewers of practically 10,000 followers with movies of herself vacuuming her home in Wisconsin whereas her youngest daughter napped in a provider on her again. A video of Ms. Lee dancing and doing the dishes — whereas carrying her sleeping child — has been watched a couple of million instances since November.
Now, with the Supreme Court docket quickly to rule in a case that would decide whether or not TikTok might be banned in the US over nationwide safety considerations, Ms. Lee and different Individuals searching for alternate options are downloading Xiaohongshu, a social media app that’s fashionable in China and little recognized exterior the nation.
“How humorous would it not be in the event that they ban TikTok and all of us simply transfer over to this Chinese language app,” Ms. Lee wrote on Monday on TikTok encouraging her followers to affix her.
Xiaohongshu was probably the most downloaded free app within the U.S. Apple retailer on Tuesday. Over 300 million folks, largely in China, use the app, the place they share brief movies in addition to nonetheless, text-based posts. Individuals flocking to it mentioned, in interviews and on the app, that they needed to indicate they don’t share Washington’s considerations about TikTok’s ties to China.
TikTok, which is out there in additional than 150 nations however not China, is owned by the Chinese language web firm ByteDance. American creators who put up movies on TikTok say the app has been a supply of connection, leisure and knowledge because it turned a sensation throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Its secret sauce is its proprietary algorithm, expertise that recommends a relentless stream of brief movies focused to maintain folks scrolling.
However lawmakers in the US and different nations have warned that the Chinese language authorities may use TikTok to entry knowledge about its customers equivalent to location and looking histories. Officers in Washington say they’re additionally involved that China may use TikTok to unfold false info among the many 170 million individuals who use it in the US.
Xiaohongshu means “little purple ebook” in Mandarin. Individuals new to the app mentioned they weren’t postpone by the reference to a ebook of Mao Zedong’s sayings. Many name the app “Pink Observe.”
“I don’t actually care if I’m utilizing a Chinese language app in any respect,” mentioned Ms. Lee. “It’s like a spot for me to flee actuality. And if it’s making me really feel good, I’m right here for it.”
A gaggle of American creators have sued the federal government over the legislation that would see the TikTok app forcibly bought or banned in the US, and TikTok is paying their authorized charges. Ms. Lee and one other creator mentioned in interviews that their curiosity in Xiaohongshu had not been incentivized by both firm. TikTok didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The Individuals on Xiaohongshu have rallied beneath the hashtag “TikTokrefugee,” which had been considered 100 million instances and sparked round 2.5 million dialogue threads on the app by Tuesday.
Becoming a member of the app has put American customers in nearer contact with folks on-line in China than they’ve ever been on TikTok. In China, folks use Douyin, a really comparable app that ByteDance used to develop the expertise that made TikTok a worldwide hit. Douyin is tough to entry exterior China.
Many shared recommendations on find out how to navigate the app, which is principally made for and utilized by individuals who learn and communicate Mandarin. Some took screenshots and requested ChatGPT to translate posts, they mentioned.
Xiaohongshu shows the town or province of Chinese language customers who put up and remark, and the nation for customers exterior China. “We’re coming to the Chinese language spies and begging them to allow us to keep right here,” mentioned one American consumer. “Authorised, welcome to Pink Observe,” somebody in Shanghai replied.
Till late December, 85 p.c of Xiaohongshu visitors was from China, in response to Similarweb, a knowledge supplier and web site visitors tracker. The app is particularly fashionable amongst ladies of their 20s and 30s, and its lengthy remark threads have turn out to be a preferred supply of knowledge for folks to swap questions on on a regular basis considerations, much like Reddit.
Xiaohongshu didn’t reply to requests for remark.
On Tuesday, greater than 100,000 folks had joined a dwell group chat hosted by a consumer named “TikTok Refugee Membership,” the place folks from around the globe chatted with Chinese language customers about city security. In one other group chat, which had been considered greater than 30,000 instances, members mentioned censorship and shared suggestions within the feedback on find out how to keep away from being banned from the platform for mentioning politically delicate matters.
Beneath one other video posted by somebody who mentioned they had been often on TikTok, a consumer in China responded with a meme of a cat with paws outstretched. “I’m your Chinese language spy,” the remark mentioned, “give me all of your knowledge.”
