Late on Sunday 19th January, the influencer world stood still as TikTok went silent in the USA.

Sobbing tributes and emotional montages were posted as TikTok was made unavailable on the Apple and Google Play Store. The ban has been five years in the making, with US congress passing a law mandating that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance either shutdown or sell the app to a non-Chinese owner.

In the 12 hours that TikTok went dark, social media spiralled into mayhem stateside as TikTok fans mourned and scrambled to replace their fix of short-form content.

Here enters RedNote. Also known as Xiaohongshu, which means ‘little red book’ in Mandarin. Ahead of the TikTok ban on the 19th,  RedNote became the most downloaded app in the US, with over 700,000 new users in two days.

RedNote is one of China’s most popular social media platforms, boasting over 300 million users per month in China. It follows a similar format to TikTok, users can share short-form videos and shop in a similar set-up to TikTok shop.

As TikTok fans flocked to RedNote, app creators scrambled to translate its contents to English to accommodate its new users, who soon became known online as ‘TikTok refugees’, with the hashtag garnering over 250 million views on RedNote.

This sudden influx of American users to RedNote connected Chinese and American citizens like never before. American TikTok refugees were greeted with mixed welcoming’s, as many existing RedNote users resented the Americanisation of the app.

American users were also quick to ensure their fellow TikTok refugees were respectful of the existing users on the app as they ventured into unchartered territory and a completely new culture.

However, this cultural mingling between Americans and Chinese users on RedNote was short-lived. Following Trump’s announcement that he would issue an executive order to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban, creators rejoiced and fled back to the app, removing their emotional tributes and carrying on like nothing happened.

The brief migration of TikTok users to RedNote is a fascinating insight into contrasting cultural dynamics, giving Americans an inside look into one of China’s biggest apps.

The TikTok refugee phenomena is also riddled with irony as the US government banned Chinese-owned TikTok only for its users to flock to another Chinese-owned platform.

It has raised lots of questions and concerns that Trump is capturing the Gen Z vote by ‘saving’ TikTok. Major influencer James Charles stated in an Instagram post: “Now I’m rooting for Trump eew, make America f—king great again, I guess. 

TikTok’s fate is yet to be decided and for now the app has been granted a 90-day extension. Watch this space for more updates.

For more interesting articles from us check out these posts:

Reddit Users Boom, Netflix Clip Sharing and Meta Explores Facial Recognition: The Latest Social Media Updates – Prohibition PR

YouTube Shorts Get Longer, Threads Surges, and TikTok Challenges Google: What Marketers Need to Know – Prohibition PR

Trial Instagram reels, Pinterest’s trending report and Metas ‘no edit’ – Social Media Updates

About The Author

Array