What is Red Note, the app Americans are migrating to due to the TikTok ban?

With the TikTok ban looming closer in the US, Americans are switching to an app called Red Note.

Every year, users braced for the possibility that TikTok might get banned. But now, that possibility seems to be reality. With the Supreme Court likely upholding the order for TikTok to either sell it in the US or cease operations in the country by January 19, the short-form video app will most likely no longer be available to be downloaded on the App Store or on Google Play. 

So American TikTokers have migrated to another app: Red Note, which shot to #1 as the most downloaded app on the App Store in The US.

[Hero image: Xiaohongshu]

Americans are migrating from TikTok to Red Note in anticipation of the upcoming ban

Red Note is a TikTok competitor that’s similar to the “clock app” though it also offers users the ability to watch and upload other forms of content. Photos, videos, and text posts can be shared on Red Note. The app has become a somewhat formidable competitor to TikTok with 300 million monthly users and a value that’s estimated to be around USD 17 billion.

However, the irony of it all is the fact that Red Note is a Chinese social media app like TikTok. The main reason US lawmakers imposed a ban on TikTok was because they insinuated that the app was being used by China to gather data on the US. TikTok has made steps in trying to appease the lawmakers, but with the upcoming ban, the greatest irony is that the “TikTok refugees” are now migrating to another Chinese app that’s completely unknown—and therefore completely unregulated.

Just to add to the irony and hilarity of it all, Red Note’s name in Chinese is Xiaohongshu, which translated means “Little Red Book”. Yes, the same name with the book of quotations and speeches by Mao Zedong. The company insists that the name is not a reference to that though.

American TikTok users’ frustration against the government has overtaken privacy concerns since many are poking fun at the situation, making memes about how they’ll be so out of place in a sea of Chinese users over at Red Note or asking for help to reunite them with the Chinese spy assigned to them. 

If you want to get on Red Note to see if the American creators you followed on TikTok have moved there, you can download the app from the App Store or from Google Play.