By Hannah Wiley, Assistant Features Editor
Are you chronically online or have a friend who is chronically online? If you answered yes, then you’ve probably heard a lot about the TikTok ban and Rednote, the app Americans are trying to use as a replacement once TikTok is gone.
Jan. 19 was the date set that the video app was supposed to go dark in the United States. Some users had the app taken early on the eve of Jan. 19, although the ban only ended up lasting about 12 hours. Now, on Jan. 24, people are glad that they no longer have to suffer on Instagram Reels and quickly went back to TikTok once the platform was restored. That isn’t the case, however, if you were one of the unfortunate few who deleted the app off their phone thinking the app was done for good.
Prior to all of this, in preparation for the ban, Americans started using an app called RedNote that’s based in Shanghai, China, and completely in Mandarin. In China, the app is called Xiao Hong Shu, which translates to Little Red Book. On the app store it states that RedNote is “a place where people share their lives and get connected with each other,” and they say that their core values are authenticity, helpfulness and inclusivity. These things were exactly what was shown to people in the U.S. unable to use TikTok that Chinese RedNote users have started calling the “American Refugees.”
Users started to teach the “American Refugees” how to say certain words in Mandarin, as well as teaching them how the app worked when it came down to the algorithm and content that was usually posted. Chinese RedNote users also showed Americans how to translate the app into English, some going as far as speaking in English in their videos and live streams.
However, while many American users were respectful, there are always people who take it too far. An article published by the New York Post headlined “China panicked about American users corrupting their youth via TikTok alternative RedNote,” and stated that the app was considering quarantining American users over inappropriate and sexualizing comments on Chinese users’ posts.
While the American migration to RedNote had its ups and downs, it proved to be short-lived, as TikTok was available again in the afternoon of Jan. 19, and all the American users rode off into the sunset, back to their beloved app.