What is RedNote? Inside the social media app drawing American users ahead of the US TikTok ban

The US ban on TikTok is looming and, for the 170 million Americans (roughly half of the country’s population) who currently use the platform, RedNote has emerged as the most credible alternative. The Chinese social media app has been thrust into the global spotlight, with reports stating that more than half-a-million TikTokers joined RedNote in the space of just two days.

What is RedNote?

RedNote is a Chinese-language social media app which is now available in English. It has more than 300 million monthly users in Mandarin-speaking countries. While, like TikTok, it offers users short-form video via an algorithm, it has been described as an amalgamation of Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok, hosting photos, videos and long-form text. RedNote's interface differs from TikTok's in that it displays multiple posts simultaneously.

Why RedNote?

Rednote looks quite similar to TikTok, making it a natural alternative. However, this doesn’t paint a full picture of its surging popularity. There has been a significant backlash to the TikTok ban in the US; understandably, perhaps, considering that popular creators make their living on the app. Thus, rather than moving to Western apps like Instagram and Facebook, creators are choosing RedNote as a form of protest. One Tiktoker lamented, ‘Our government… loves and thrives seeing us unhappy and seeing us struggle and seeing us poor’, adding, ‘seeing that RedNote, another Chinese app… is the number one app in the App Store today is just beautiful’.

The ban also coincides with changes to Facebook and Instagram's content moderation, making some users reluctant to transfer their loyalty to Meta. Another TikToker posted that she would ‘rather move to China than Instagram reels’.

What has been the impact of the migration?

As US users surge to RedNote, impromptu cultural exchanges between Mandarin speakers and Americans have been taking place, leaving the Chinese app scrabbling to moderate English language content and build translation tools. In a live chat named ‘TikTok Refugees’, which has over over 50,000 participants, Chinese users welcomed their American counterparts and discussed topics such as food, youth unemployment, and even the differences between China and Hong Kong.

Could Rednote run into the same problems as TikTok?

The goal of the ban is not outlawing TikTok, per se, but ending its Chinese ownership; it requires the app to break ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Sunday, or be blocked in the US. The motive for the legislation stems from a concern that ByteDance shares user data with the Chinese government.

If you’re confused, therefore, about the proficiency of swapping out one Chinese-owned app for another – and how this move is going to better preserve American national security – then you’re not alone. RedNote’s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu, translates to ‘Little Red Book’, which traditionally refers to a collection of sayings by Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong; in terms of optics, it’s difficult to see how the use of such a platform can be preferable in the eyes of the US government. What’s more, RedNote doesn’t hide the fact that it seeks to gather data from its users in its privacy policy.

There is, however, the possibility that, if there is a sustained mass-migration to RedNote, then it could befall the same fate as TikTok. This is because the legislation passed to ban TikTok lays the groundwork for the government to do the same with any other foreign-owned service perceived as hostile. Whether RedNote becomes the new TikTok or a flash in the pan, therefore, remains to be seen.