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In light of the coming TikTok ban, it's been really funny to see other Americans flood the 小红书 servers and make it the #1 app on the Apple app store 😭
Not to be one of those damn academics, but I think it does represent some kind of shift in the paradigm of the US' public perception towards China. Since 2019, there's been a campaign of heightened anti-China propaganda spearheaded by the Trump administration and continued by Biden and the likes, manufacturing consent for a new Cold War with China [1], which has proved effective in many ways in reinforcing previous narratives about socialism and China, but the last year or so has seen a notable break in this trend, especially in people my age. When motions began to actually start the process of banning TikTok came in March 2024, there was a big public freakout, and then it was forgotten about until the last couple months, where it became a more realizable reality that it would actually be banned. The response? Not moving to US-based competitors like Meta (FB, IG, Threads) or Twitter, but instead we started flocking to 小红书 out of spite.
Though certain narratives may still be ever present in the population (such as anti-communism, CPC "Authoritarianism" and plain racism), the willingness to subvert our own government and side with an "enemy state" even if it's out of performative activism at least says something. TikTok was banned under the guise of "national security" from this "enemy state" (and to censor pro-Palestinian / left-leaning perspectives [2]). In response to this violation of First Amendment protections, the American spirit of stubbornness, extravagance, and pettiness was brought out and hundreds of thousands are migrating to a Chinese app that is more directly connected to the Chinese government than TikTok ever was. It's likely just a trend, and people will come back to American apps soon, just as Luigi Mangione's folk hero status remained a trend for only a few weeks, it at least represents a scare to the US government that a large group of people are at least sympathetic enough to China that the warmongering China hawks in Biden and Trump's cabinets will have a harder time manufacturing consent for a war in the next couple years.
I do hope that it isn't just a trend, and that a kind of friendship of the American and Chinese people can develop in a natural and peaceful way, but in all reality, if it isn't a trend, 小红书 will be on the chopping block by the Supreme Court VERY soon. I'll probably set up an account and see how things are once the servers aren't overloaded from everyone trying to register, but it will be interesting to see if this actually changes how the average American will view China. At the very least, it will be fun to see how the warmongers in congress freak out seeing people side with a foreign adversary (with an app named after Maoist literature) over the ban lmao
1. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-launched-cia-covert-influence-operation-against-china-2024-03-14/
2. https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/05/06/senator-romney-antony-blinken-tiktok-ban-israel-palestinian-content
Comments
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Elizabeth♥
I loved your take on this. I agree, I hope the friendship or good interactions can last between everyone. I haven't had it in me to join the app just because I actually am concerned about yet another app selling my personal information. I'm close to wiping my presence off of all my Meta apps. Still feeling a lot of FOMO about not joining it tho. Might learn Mandarin out of spite.
In my mind, what would a Chinese company do with your data that would even approach the shady things that American companies already do? I'd be a lot more concerned about Meta than XHS with your data, but that's just because I've never liked Meta. A lot of Americans already went back to TT since the ban deadline was extended, and admittedly I don't use the app too much, I just check things out when TT is boring, but it's already a lot more foreign-friendly with built-in translation. I still post / comment with both english and mandarin though.
by April :3; ; Report
x.avalon.x
I love xhs literally never leaving and absolutely NOT going back to TikTok after shou started slobbering on trumps dick
I'm def curious on how the app is going to be like going forward, whether they made a deal with some American company. If it goes to Meta or Elon Musk, I'm straight up deleting the app. For now, TT is more familiar, but I wouldn't be opposed to making the full shift to XHS if it goes to shit.
by April :3; ; Report
xXDerpFaceXx
i'm using xhs now and i really hope it's not just a trend, even if tiktok doesn't get banned i'm staying!! i've made a few chinese friends and we talk a lot about the differences in our countries, it's so crazy. some of them thought we had free healthcare and free college
it's crazy to see all the discussions everyone's having, and they put me on some really good music. it'd be nice if this sent a message to our govt
Emma
As a Brazilian who has taken an interest in China due to the strong anti-propaganda against the country by right-wing Western countries, I believe that Americans will have a culture shock in terms of freedom of expression, and I believe that xiaohongshu may become more severe in relation to the behaviour of Americans who flood the app. I want to see how Americans will behave when they see something they believe to be immoral on the app, since they are now the foreigners, the immigrants of the Internet. They will have to obey Chinese cultural rules when it comes to speech and behaviour, because even if the app doesn't do anything, the community within the app will. The Chinese may sound inviting and friendly - and indeed they are - but at the first misstep of an "American tourist", they will criticise America's nationality and political actions. Like it or not, Chinese ideals are communist and society is socialist. What I've learnt from talking to my Chinese friends is that even those who don't know much, even those who don't study, are extremely opposed to liberalism - which is the least reactionary that the average American can get. Also, I think black Americans should be careful, as the racist rhetoric also found its way into Chinese people, SPECIALLY in xiaohongshu. I started using the app back in 2022 but no longer use it due to the rampant racism I found in there. Some of them make fun of police brutality as if they are white people benefiting from it.
I admit that I sound prejudiced against Americans - I am in fact against America -, but I'm from one of the many countries that suffers from the bare existence of the United States, and whether we like it or not, the American masses are complicit in globalised genocide. The only Americans I don't loathe are the comrades, but it's not solely them who are migrating to that app.
by Emma; ; Report
I don't blame you whatsoever for sounding prejudiced against Americans (esp. knowing what the US has done (and is doing) to Brazil). But yes, after spending a little bit of time on the app, I remembered the fourth component of the American spirit, extreme xenophobia and acting like you own the room. I've seen plenty of other Americans make fun of Chinese accents or acting like they're "saving" Chinese people from the "Evil Authoritarian" CPC by saying "1989 Tiananmen Square" wherever they can. I just joined the app recently, and I want to improve my Chinese since I've been out of practice for about a year, but I would be entirely understanding if they became hostile to Americans on the platform since they have shown overwhelming kindness, and we return with brashness and ego. The Chinese live by the philosophy of adapting to wherever they are foreign too, and the average American acts like they are deserving of the whole world.
It's funny and petty seeing so many other Americans use a Chinese app to spite our government, but I imagine its performative at most and will last only a few more weeks. I've enjoyed it so far, and wouldn't mind staying if I'm welcome, as it will definitely help me learn the language better, (and I'd love to have a discussion with actual Chinese communists) but I wouldn't be surprised if other Americans get us kicked off the app. The only thing I can hope for is that we will realize that the Chinese people are not an enemy, and maybe it will radicalize people to more of an extent than the US banning their app, but towards some actual change.
by April :3; ; Report
I've seen a few people commenting on this, and it may just be speculation, but I saw a lady apparently of Chinese descent who said that they were thinking of separating the foreign IPs from the Chinese IPs so that the Chinese wouldn't interact with things that are legal in the US and illegal in China to be shared on social media. I hope they aren't but I wouldn't be surprised.
by Emma; ; Report