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 almost 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 sporting her sleeping child — has been watched multiple million instances since November.
Now, with the Supreme Courtroom soon to rule in a case that might decide whether or not TikTok may very well be banned in the USA over nationwide safety issues, Ms. Lee and different Americans looking for alternatives are downloading Xiaohongshu, a social media app that’s common in China and little identified outdoors 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 hitch her.
Xiaohongshu was essentially the most downloaded free app within the U.S. Apple retailer on Tuesday. Over 300 million individuals, largely in China, use the app, the place they share brief movies in addition to nonetheless, text-based posts. Folks flocking to it mentioned, in interviews and on the app, that they wished to indicate they don’t share Washington’s issues 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 publish movies on TikTok say the app has been a supply of connection, leisure and knowledge because it grew to become a sensation through the Covid-19 pandemic. Its secret sauce is its proprietary algorithm, expertise that recommends a continuing stream of brief movies focused to maintain individuals scrolling.
However lawmakers in the United States and other countries have warned that the Chinese language authorities might use TikTok to entry knowledge about its customers similar to location and searching histories. Officers in Washington say they’re additionally involved that China might use TikTok to unfold false info among the many 170 million individuals who use it in the USA.
Xiaohongshu means “little crimson ebook” in Mandarin. People 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 Word.”
“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 bunch of American creators have sued the government over the legislation that might see the TikTok app forcibly bought or banned in the USA, 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 People 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 individuals on-line in China than they’ve ever been on TikTok. In China, individuals use Douyin, a really related app that ByteDance used to develop the expertise that made TikTok a worldwide hit. Douyin is troublesome to entry outdoors China.
Many shared recommendations on how you can navigate the app, which is principally made for and utilized by individuals who learn and converse Mandarin. Some took screenshots and requested ChatGPT to translate posts, they mentioned.
Xiaohongshu shows the town or province of Chinese language customers who publish and remark, and the nation for customers outdoors China. “We’re coming to the Chinese language spies and begging them to allow us to keep right here,” mentioned one American person. “Permitted, welcome to Pink Word,” somebody in Shanghai replied.
Till late December, 85 % of Xiaohongshu visitors was from China, in accordance with Similarweb, a knowledge supplier and web site visitors tracker. The app is particularly common amongst girls of their 20s and 30s, and its lengthy remark threads have change into a well-liked supply of data for individuals to swap questions on on a regular basis issues, just like Reddit.
Xiaohongshu didn’t reply to requests for remark.
On Tuesday, greater than 100,000 individuals had joined a dwell group chat hosted by a person named “TikTok Refugee Membership,” the place individuals 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 how you can keep away from being banned from the platform for mentioning politically delicate subjects.
Beneath one other video posted by somebody who mentioned they had been often on TikTok, a person 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.”
