RedNote is bringing Chinese and Americans face-to-face. What have they learned?
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Ann Scott Tyson Staff writer
From their apartment in Connecticut, Beth Wang and her partner watched TikTok go down in mid-January with dread – but quickly found a new source of entertainment and human connection on the Chinese app RedNote.
Ms. Wang, a native Kansan who has never set foot in China, flocked to the social media platform along with an estimated 700,000 American “TikTok refugees” after the U.S. government moved to ban TikTok over national security concerns. RedNote, or Xiaohongshu (literally, “little red book” in Chinese), is one of China’s biggest social media platforms, with an estimated 300 million users in China – many of whom welcomed the Americans with warmth and curiosity.
Interactions began much as one would expect from an abrupt meeting of strangers who mostly don’t speak the same language. Basic questions were posed; photos of cats were shared. But conversations between the Chinese hosts and their American guests have quickly deepened, challenging biases on both sides.
Why We Wrote This
Americans’ rush to the popular Chinese app RedNote opened a window between two starkly different worlds – at least for a time – allowing for unexpected discoveries.
“You have a very organic and very authentic exchange of people’s thoughts on a particular issue” on RedNote that creates a sense of community, says Ivy Yang, founder of Wavelet Strategy, a New York-based consulting firm. “That’s the magic of Xiaohongshu.”
The “TikTok refugees” and Chinese RedNote users are self-selected groups not wholly representative of their respective countries – and posting on RedNote is both curated and monitored by Chinese authorities. But the encounters constitute a rare direct exposure of Chinese and American people to one another. At a time when travel between the countries remains below prepandemic levels, this could inject some fresh energy into strained United States-China ties, says Ms. Yang, who has expertise in Chinese technology companies. If such interactions inspire more Americans to travel to China, she says, “It would be a huge win.”
Empathy for Americans
Americans migrated to RedNote to follow their favorite accounts from TikTok and protest the U.S. ban, making RedNote briefly the No. 1 downloaded social networking app in the Apple store before it fell back to No. 13 this week.
RedNote combines many of the features of other popular social media platforms, showing users an algorithmically generated feed of photos, videos, and conversation topics.
Plunging into translated conversations with people from all over China, Ms. Wang explored a country she knew little about, even though her grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong in the 1950s. “This inundation of contemporary Chinese culture has been so cool,” she says.
As Ms. Wang dove in, more than 7,400 miles away in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou, Melody, the creative director of a Chinese advertising firm, was curiously watching the Americans flood into her RedNote space.
“Welcome to my great country!” Melody wrote in a post, sharing a photo montage of her travels in China and offering to help the U.S. arrivals navigate RedNote.
“They soon figured out that sharing videos of their cats, plants, and children could quickly gain the attention of Chinese netizens,” says Melody, who withheld her full name to protect her privacy. The Chinese helped make up Chinese names for the Americans, and everyone traded images of home streets, living rooms, and lunches.
Today Chinese and American users continue to pepper each other with basic questions, aided by RedNote’s new translation tool. They eagerly compare notes on everything from working hours, wages, prices, and student debt, to food, pop culture, and dating.
As conversations moved from superficial to deep, Melody found herself connecting with people in the U.S. who were struggling. “I encouraged and comforted several Americans who were going through tough times,” she says. She met people who were unemployed, or were raising children with disabilities. A farmer in rural America described the hardships of his life – a revelation for Melody.
“One of the most significant shocks for me from TikTok refugees is the psychological trauma that ordinary Americans seem to be experiencing,” she says.
Finding common ground despite censors
For her part, Ms. Wang also found a caring, empathetic environment on RedNote, which in China is known for having predominantly female users with higher levels of education. Travel tips, restaurant reviews, and fashion and makeup advice are popular topics on the platform. China’s RedNote users even joke that they don’t call each other “bro” because they are essentially a “matriarchal society.”
“It is the most humane kind of internet space I have ever been on,” she says, calling it “uplifting.”
To be sure, part of this is due to censorship, which Chinese RedNote users warned their new American friends about. “Reminder: On Chinese social media platforms, please do not mention sensitive topics such as politics, religion and drugs!!!” one person posted.
Some Americans reported having their content blocked or accounts suspended for material deemed sensitive by RedNote, as content moderators control what the Chinese audience can see. A search on RedNote for Xi Jinping, China’s leader, comes up blank.
“Obviously it is curated and has a lot of strict guidelines on what you can and can’t post,” says Ms. Wang. “But those restrictions don’t keep people from this really cool kind of cultural interchanges.”
For example, she’s connected with women who are planning their weddings in China – and has marveled at the similarities as she plans her own marriage in the U.S.
“The brides in the comments are all like, ‘It is so hard to find a live band that is affordable and also good,’” says Ms. Wang. “I’m like, ‘Girls in America are having that problem!’ The biggest message I have gotten on this app is our sameness.” She plans not only to stick with RedNote, but also to learn Chinese and travel to China.
Still, Americans and Chinese sometimes clash on the platform. Xiaoxiao, a Chinese RedNote user from Sichuan province who is currently studying for a master’s degree abroad, describes debates breaking out, including over perceived racism. Americans are much more attuned to racial identity, she says, whereas China is a more homogeneous country, leading to misunderstandings.
“I guess this won’t last too long, because there are still fundamental ways we are different,” she says, asking to withhold her full name to protect her privacy.
Indeed, with TikTok returning to U.S. phones, and RedNote reportedly rushing to hire English-speaking content moderators, some predict this relatively open line of communication between the two countries may prove fleeting.
But Melody isn’t disheartened. “Let’s take this opportunity to make as many new friends as possible,” she says.
