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At least as of this writing, we are still waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court on the future of TikTok, but users of the app are not waiting to find out what will happen.
In recent days, TikTok alternatives like Clapper, Flip and TikTok’s own Lemon8 have climbed to the top of the app store charts. The most popular of all, Xiaohongshumade the greatest impression on his more than 700,000 new users.
The exodus – which was prompted by the ban attempt and carried out out of sheer contempt – proves how futile the effort to protect Americans from a “dangerous” app, which took more than five years, has really been. In fact, the effort has apparently made things worse for those in power.
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Only desserts!
Once again, the US government said that its main purpose in banning TikTok has always been to protect American users from Chinese propaganda and protect their data.
I think it’s fair to say that, unsurprisingly, the government got it wrong. Great time.
Within days, Xiaohongshu – which means “Little Red Book” in English – turned US-China relations on their head. The app was founded in 2013 and acts as a Chinese version of Instagram. Not only are Americans consuming videos and images on an app that actively censors content related to Tiananmen Square and doesn’t show anything when they search for “Xi Jinping,” but they are retaliating for the app to track their data. Just around the corner, the opposite result of what the US intelligence community wanted.
Many Americans also provide advice on how to better integrate with Xiaohongshu’s predominantly Chinese user base. A TikTok user posted a video this week asking new US users to “stop saying democracy” on the app. “If you’re Taiwanese,” he said, “and you’re in Xiaohongshu, you’re now Chinese. Sorry.” I couldn’t find a single criticism in their comments section. In fact, many users have thanked for the advice.
However, the attempt to ban TikTok has inspired more interest in China among Americans than anything else. There has been a large influx of TikTok users learning Mandarin by chatting with Chinese Xiaohongshu users or downloading language learning apps like Duolingo.
“Started learning on Duolingo and from the creators on Red Note (or Xiaohongshu),” a TikTok user wrote to me. “Also added the Chinese keyboard option on my phone.”
“Downloaded Red Note and had my first Duolingo Chinese lesson this morning 😂,” said another.
“Oh, so NOW you’re learning Mandarin,” Duolingo’s X account published on Tuesday respond to the growth of interest.
There was a 216 percent increase in new Duolingo users signing up to learn Chinese, Duolingo spokeswoman Monica Earle told WIRED. When someone signs up for a Duolingo account, they are asked to fill out a survey explaining how they found the app, and the company has observed “a corresponding spike” in users selecting “TikTok” as the reason they joined Duolingo.
