By , Joyce Jiang and January 15, 2025
As Supreme Court justices ponder the future of TikTok in the United States, a growing number of American social media users have responded by moving to an unlikely alternative: Xiaohongshu, a hugely popular social media app in China.
The app, which means “Little Red Book,” often shortened by US users to RedNote, surged to the top position on Apple’s US App Store on Tuesday.
Founded in 2013, Xiaohongshu is one of China’s biggest social media platforms with 300 million users, according to research firm Qian Gua. Described as China’s answer to Instagram, the app has become especially popular for sharing tips on travel, makeup and fashion.
But while it has cornered the Chinese market, it hasn’t gained much prominence beyond the Chinese-speaking world. Until now.
Why is Xiaohongshu everywhere?
Xiaohongshu is surging in popularity worldwide in the same week that TikTok could potentially go offline in the US.
US mobile downloads of Xiaohongshu almost tripled over the past week, compared to the seven days before, San Francisco-based market intelligence firm Sensor Tower told CNN on Tuesday.
Within the span of two days, more than 700,000 new users have joined Xiaohongshu, Reuters reported, citing a person close to the company. CNN has reached out to Xiaohongshu for comment.
As of Wednesday, the hashtag “TikTok refugee” had garnered nearly 250 million views and over 5.5 million comments. Many of the American users they had joined as an act of defiance against Washington’s move on TikTok.
“Our government is out of their minds if they think we’re going to stand for this TikTok ban,” a user called Heather Roberts said in a video message on Xiaohongshu, which has garnered more than 45,000 likes. “We’re just going to a new Chinese app, and here we are.”
“This is so much better than TikTok,” another self-proclaimed “refugee” said in video message. “Americans are coming here … so sorry you’ll hate us, but I promise we’ll do our best.”
Continue reading at edition.cnn.com
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