As the future of TikTok remains uncertain, it’s clear that there is still a demand for some kind of short-form content. Since Instagram, X, and Threads have been unable to catch up with the sheer user influx of the popular scrolling app, a substitute has been at the tips of everyone’s fingers. Users have been seeking a transitional app ever since the ban was announced, and RedNote may just be the solution.
The ban itself is not shocking to Americans. The talk of this ban has been in the works for over a year now, just now becoming enacted. The ban, currently supported by the Supreme Court, creates a “conditional ban” that relies on the ownership of the app. This talk of the app’s removal sparked many to assume that the app would disappear from phones and stop working, which was supported by the morning of January 19th when the app appeared unable to open any further than a pop-up relaying the news of the ban. However, many found that even after TikTok was banned, hours later, the app appeared to be working as before.
This sudden restoration brought on confusion and frustration across the board, as those who still had the app were left puzzled by the limitations of the ban and those who had already abandoned the app were unable to get it back.
What is the TikTok ban?
The great misconception with the TikTok ban centered around the idea of TikTok being gone forever. Many influencers and TikTok stars spent January 18th saying their goodbyes and thanking their communities/fans for their love and support. As the first signs of the ban’s restrictions showed up, flashing gray boxes onto screens warning of the United States’s prohibition, TikTok started to be deleted from phones.
Yet, in the midday hours of January 19th, the app began to work. This comes as an agreement made within the ban. Though, yes, the ban has removed the app from the app store, the app did not delete itself from phones, nor did it stop continuation. The ban describes itself not as a deletion of the app but as a halt and prohibition of usage by United States companies, stating it is explicitly “…unlawful for companies in the United States to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update the social media platform TikTok.”
A hyper-specific addendum follows this regulation: “unless U. S. operation of the platform is severed from Chinese control.” The majority of the ban frames the app as being dangerous to American users due to its ability to mine users’ information and data. The ban, crafted by Congress and reviewed by the Supreme Court, clearly states the unconstitutional act of harvesting this data through applications and carries the same warnings exemplified by the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
This act, however, allows this data breach — as both explicitly listed within the act itself and perpetuated through cultural standings — for American-owned applications. The act explicitly states, “…the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President,” which is further explained by the Supreme Court: “A ‘qualified divestiture’ is one that the President determines will result in the application ‘no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary.’”
To put it simply, this ban was enacted because of the company ByteDance’s operation based in China. Should TikTok shift this control over to an American company, the data mining and information collection would be allowed due to the control no longer being through a foreign source. This exact notion was epitomized through the Facebook hearings before Congress after their data breach, where Facebook was only fined but not banned.
What is RedNote?
In response to this ban and in the search for a new social media platform, TikTok users — in a deeply iconic act of defiance — have turned to Xiaohongshu. Translated, the name means “Little Red Book,” which has been shortened to its more common name: RedNote. RedNote has soared in popularity with the banning of TikTok, gaining over 700,000 users who have called themselves “TikTok refugees.”
RedNote promotes itself as a combination of many different platforms that we’re familiar with. Taking elements of TikTok, Instagram, and even Pinterest, RedNote utilizes a scrolling page, similar to that of Pinterest with images and videos that users can click on to view. Users have their own profiles and can interact with the content like on any other social media platform. However, it’s important to note that this social media platform was not designed for English users. The primary language on the app is Mandarin.
What does the shift look like?
Users are flooding to RedNote. These accounts are taking the ban on the chin and joining the new app in a tongue-in-cheek act of defiance. There have been trends of American users referring to themselves as spies on the new app, as well as a “cat tax.” This “tax” insists that new RedNote users must post a picture of their cat to continue using the platform. It appears that this shift has spawned an influx of jokes and jabs between users, stretching across continents.
This shift, if anything, looks like a mod-podge of social media platforms and an interesting clashing of personalities. In short, it looks like many of its competitors. The biggest note with this migration from TikTok to RedNote is that it’s smaller than many assume. RedNote’s few hundred thousand new users is a small percentage of TikTok’s audience. With over three billion users, only 0.02 percent have made the shift to RedNote.
Is RedNote really the new TikTok?
RedNote has over three million daily active users. This is a significantly smaller user base compared to TikTok’s over one billion users. However, with the influx of users that have floated over to RedNote, the app is not entirely dismissible. Especially now, with the number of TikTok users who preemptively deleted the app and are now unable to rejoin the platform, RedNote could pose a viable alternative. However, RedNote does present an obstacle with its language barrier between Chinese users and American users.
TikTok’s banning marks an interesting shift in social presence and platforms within American culture. Developments on this front will be covered by Bookstr, so stay tuned for updates.
Want to read more about the shifting landscape of social media since the TikTok ban? Check out Bookstr’s The BookTok Ban: Is Social Media Better off Without It?
Intimidated by the way our tech is changing? Curious about how creative minds have portrayed this world? Pick one of Bookstr’s recommendations from our Bookshop collection: Dystopian Worlds, Technology, and the Universe in Science Fiction.
