this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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Americans are joining the Chinese social media app en masse to protest an imminent TikTok ban.

  • American users have flocked to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu in defiance of security warnings.
  • Chinese and American users have engaged in surprisingly friendly conversations about each other’s lives.
  • The influx of American users could burden Xiaohongshu’s censorship mechanism, experts say.
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[–] callmepk 61 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

I saw people in some Chinese source saying XiaoHongShu is updating the algorithm to segregate Chinese users and foreign users (image 1) and hiring English Post Inspectors (image 2) to moderate English contents due to China’s policy

Image 1:

Image 2:

It’s kind of like why there are Weixin and WeChat, Douyin and TikTok, Taobao and AliExpress, Pinduoduo and Temu

[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 hours ago (5 children)

When I saw the headline, this was my first thought.

But damn, it could have been something cool if reality wasn't so fucking predictable and ugly.

I mean, imagine a reality where a bunch of humans end up using the same service like that, between two countries at odds, and they realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought possible. It could be a bridge that changes a world.

Well, that world, because it sure as hell isn't the one we're in

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago
[–] callmepk 49 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

I mean, imagine a reality where a bunch of humans end up using the same service like that, between two countries at odds, and they realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought possible. It could be a bridge that changes a world.

The answer is Fediverse. From last time I checked while I am in Mainland China, lemmy.world is not banned (yet lemmy.ml is banned lol)

I am also able to use my own Mastodon instance in Mainland China.

Fediverse is the key and tool to break the Great Firewall.

[–] paraphrand 31 points 11 hours ago

Until they turn their gaze to it. I’m sure it’s trivial to block and monitor due to the federated/networked nature.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 hours ago

Let's hope it stays that way :)

We don't get to actually interact much with chinese people in China, here in the states. The more all us regular people can get to know each other, the more chance we have of maybe breaking down the artificial barriers that keep us locked into our own worlds

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

I mean, imagine a reality where a bunch of humans end up using the same service like that, between two countries at odds, and they realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought possible. It could be a bridge that changes a world.

There's a lot of users expressing as much:

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 hours ago

[Winds of Change by Scorpions playing loudly]

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Squizzy 8 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

The liberation of humanity comment is worrying

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 13 hours ago (11 children)

I've seen a bunch of companies claiming us users are flocking to them. I guess we shall see where users end up

[–] [email protected] 31 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

Yeah, this honestly sounds like a press release with made up "users". Definitely part of a marketing campaign.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Everyone I followed on tiktok said they're going to Rednote, and my FYP on rednote is extremely active with tiktok refugees. It's also been the number 1 app on both apple and chrome for 3 days. The users are very real.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 hours ago

That picture is amazing, lol.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

Nah, I am on xiaohongshu. Its fucking crazy. Most of the mandarin speaking audience woke up to their app filled with english. There is a running joke on the site now about US citizens "colonizing" the app. It is silly and in good fun but I cannot stress enough how real the influx of users is. Some brits are even moving there because so many Americans they follow did. I have seen multiple chinese citizens have their account jump from a few hundred followers to 30k in an hour or two. I mean you can hop on and see for yourself, it is free. It has actually been really wholesome so far and I hope the vibes continue to be good.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

With all due respect, this comment is exactly what a faked "Grass roots marketing campaign" would write. But your account has an extensive post history, so thats a lot more effort than a typical astro turf account.

Also, inflating subscriber numbers and view counts wouldn't be out of the question either, remember Facebook video...

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (10 children)

I just talk like that. Is it so hard to believe that there are plenty of Americans who would flock to a genuinely chinese owned social media out of spite or just bc it is funny? I haven't even seen an ad on the site so I don't think they are making enough money to astroturf nor can I find a reason why they'd want to.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 hours ago

Id question the intelligence of anyone who used any app specifically because of a country associated with it when it's not an app about countries. Going to Chinese apps just because TikTok gets banned is kinda silly imo, but then again I don't use state-sponsored social media like TikTok or instagram etc

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 hours ago (5 children)

RedNote is seeing the largest influx of new users right now. There's a few other TikTok-like apps that are also seeing some bumps, but RedNote is soaring.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 hours ago (5 children)
[–] atrielienz 5 points 6 hours ago

I would like Loops to get an influx of users, but this would be too many in one go while loops is not in a sustainable position to support them. The unfortunate truth is that Loops can't handle that level of usership yet

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

How do you actually sign up? I tried and it said it will send me an email and that's it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

It might take a little while for the email to show up. When I signed up, it was a couple of hours, but it was under a good bit of stress at the time.

Things are going smoothly this morning. Uploads are quick to process, and the timeline seems to be moving along with new content. So YMMV

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

Yes, there is an Android app, but it does need to be side loaded. There is an APK download once you get signed into the web interface.

Similarly, there is a TestFlight for the iOS app.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

"Nobody I want to follow is using it."

By and large, the average user is a content consumer, not a creator. The consumers want to go where the creators are, but the creators won't go where there aren't already consumers. This will always be the biggest problem for any Fediverse platform.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

So is red note, who is on red note?!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

The influencers went there first as protest because they're a Chinese company

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[–] devfuuu 15 points 12 hours ago

People really are that dumb. We really deserve everything we have.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 12 hours ago
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