The clock is ticking for TikTok as the Chinese short-video app faces an imminent ban in one of its most important and biggest markets ¨C the US. TikTok, which has more than 170 million users in the US, has time until January 19 to find a buyer or face a ban in the country.
As the future of TikTok remains uncertain, influencers and those who have built their businesses on the platform are panicking.
They are jumping ship to another Chinese app, Xiaohongshu, which means Little Red Book. But outside China, it is often referred to as RedNote.
The app's name is borrowed from a book in China, which is a compilation of former CCP Chairman Mao Tse-tung's quotes, called Mao's Little Red Book.
The Shanghai-based Chinese-language social media app has seen its popularity surge in the past few days, as TikTok users in the US are finding their new home there.
Unlike TikTok, RedNote allows users to share short videos, photos, and text-based posts. In China, it is also used as a de-facto search engine for product, travel, and restaurant recommendations, as well as makeup and skincare tutorials.
The app, which was launched in 2013 and has more than 300 million users, mostly in China, became the most downloaded free app in the US Apple Store on Tuesday.
Many TikTokers who recently migrated to RedNote are calling themselves #TikTokrefugee on the new platform.
RedNote is not the only TikTok alternative that has gained popularity in the US recently. Another Chinese social media app, Lemon8, which is also owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance, has seen its user base increase in the past few days.
Lemon8 is registered in Singapore and owned by a company linked to ByteDance. It was launched in 2020 and was modelled on Xiaohongshu. It was launched in the US in 2023 at a time when TikTok was facing a ban there.
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