On the evening of January 13, Chinese lifestyle sharing platform Xiaohongshu (also referred as RedNote) unexpectedly climbed to the top of the US Apple App Store’s free chart. This surge was driven by a sudden influx of American users—many of whom are self-identified as “TikTok refugees.” On January 13, the hashtag “TikTokRefugee” had only around 2,000 posts and 390,000 views. By the morning of the next day, the number of posts under the hashtag had skyrocketed to over 70,000, with total views surpassing 27 million. And the numbers continue to rise. These American users have expressed their hopes that Xiaohongshu’s platform and community will welcome them with open arms.
For Xiaohongshu, this shift to internationalization, a goal many companies take decades to achieve, appears to have happened overnight. But as with any sudden growth, the path ahead is full of uncertainty.
Not US Social Media
This phenomenon stems from the ongoing TikTok ban saga. On January 10, the US Supreme Court accelerated hearings on the proposed TikTok ban, weighing whether the short-video platform should be forced to sell or face a nationwide ban. After a session of oral arguments, a majority of the justices made it clear that national security concerns outweigh freedom of speech, and the ban was upheld.
While the ban’s outcome was widely expected, most experts speculated that American social media platforms such as Meta’s Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), or YouTube Shorts would benefit from TikTok’s potential downfall. However, to everyone’s surprise, even before the ban was enforced, the real winner wasn’t one of these platforms—it was Xiaohongshu, a Chinese app known for lifestyle sharing. While TikTok users flocking to Xiaohongshu might seem like a coincidence, it could also be a sign that the app’s community atmosphere and culture have already captured the attention of users beyond China.
Why not Douyin?
Given that TikTok is the international counterpart to China’s Douyin, why are these “TikTok refugees” choosing Xiaohongshu instead of Douyin? The answer lies in accessibility. Douyin and TikTok operate on different servers and content pools in various countries. While international users can register for Douyin using a global phone number, they can’t simply download it from the US App Store—they’d need to switch to the Chinese App Store. This process is considerably complex and inconvenient for casual users.
On the other hand, Xiaohongshu was built with international users in mind from the start. Originally focused on cross-border shopping experiences, Xiaohongshu operates a global content pool, allowing users from different regions to communicate seamlessly. This has made the app easy to download and use directly from the US App Store, without any regional barriers.
Will Xiaohongshu fully embrace globalization?
This isn’t the first time Xiaohongshu has experienced a surge of international users. In early 2024, a trend called “foreigners take advice” emerged on the platform, where international users posted pictures of themselves holding signs asking for beauty advice. Despite the initial excitement, a report by ifeng.com noted that the increase in daily active users (DAU) from this trend wasn’t significant. The reason is clear: Xiaohongshu’s core community is still largely Chinese, and the app hasn’t yet tailored its content for American audiences. The language barrier, cultural differences, and lack of content suited to US users make it challenging for them to fully integrate into the platform. Some users have turned to translation tools, but the experience isn’t optimal, and it’s unlikely to build long-term engagement.
A Xiaohongshu insider told ifeng.com, the app has always been designed with Chinese-language content in mind and hasn’t yet been adapted for international audiences. This presents a natural hurdle for expanding globally.
Additionally, since 2016, China has enforced a real-name registration policy for apps, which means that while Xiaohongshu doesn’t require users to verify their identity or use a Chinese phone number to register, future regulatory changes could affect the app’s ability to scale internationally.
Gen Z’s outlet of TikTok ban
This trend was initiated by the TikTok ban, which, when we look back, becomes an outlet for TikTok users to vent their frustration about the restrictions. While conservatism and anti-globalization sentiments may be on the rise, Gen Z users, who were raised in a globalization tendency, are making their voice heard. John Wihbey, an associate professor of media innovation and technology at Northeastern University, shared his insights on how the TikTok ban might affect the US with TechNode. While also concerning national security, Wihbey admits TikTok’s importance for American young users, as he sees his students use the app all the time. “Just like a big catalytic event that happened when they were young and it sort of formed identity and politics,” Wihbey said, “banning TikTok could in some ways be very impactful for young people in the United States, and over time, it will have some unknowable consequences–I don’t know what that is. However, it’s possible that generation forms a more cyber libertarian worldview. It’s possible that they go in a different direction because they see these old people kind of imposing on their space in a way that they find quite damaging and irrational.”
“There’s a generational tension here that I think at the level of culture and politics (which) could be very consequential (, but it) may take decades to play out. But it strikes me as the kind of thing that people sometimes remember,” said Wihbey. “It sort of strikes at the heart of where young people are right now because TikTok is so important in terms of cultural communication, fun, entertainment, understanding, memes, virality, you know, so many of the trends of the generation pass through that app. And so to kill it off, I think would be quite profound. It is potentially profoundly damaging. I think they will perceive it as that.”
