TikTok Refugees Find New Digital Home on Xiaohongshu Amid Ban Threats

As TikTok faces a potential U.S. ban pending a Supreme Court decision, thousands of users are preemptively migrating to Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform known as “Little Red Book.” By Monday, the app surged to the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store, even without an official English name, surpassing ByteDance’s Lemon8, which also saw a traffic spike.

A Growing Exodus

Dubbed “TikTok refugees,” users are exploring Xiaohongshu, a platform with over 300 million Chinese users, despite language barriers and cultural differences. Relying on translation tools, many are attempting to rebuild communities left behind on TikTok, while others join as a form of protest against U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to ban Chinese apps.

“I’d rather stare at a language I can’t understand than use a platform owned by Mark Zuckerberg,” one user quipped in a video that quickly gained traction.

Xiaohongshu’s existing Chinese user base, intrigued by the influx of American users, has largely responded with warmth. Many are helping newcomers navigate the app and engaging in cultural exchange through live chatrooms and comment threads.

Why Xiaohongshu?

Founded in 2013, Xiaohongshu is a hybrid between Instagram and Pinterest, favoring photo slideshows paired with text over short-form videos. While it has long been a trendsetter in China, the app remained relatively unknown in the West until now. Its unique “masonry grid” layout has influenced the designs of other apps, including ByteDance’s Lemon8.

For newcomers, Xiaohongshu offers a fresh, unpolished alternative to Western platforms. “The concentration of personal, genuine content from everyday users is refreshing,” said David Yang, a Chinese user in Paris who noted that about 25% of his feed now features “TikTok refugees.”

Cultural Exchange and Challenges

The migration has sparked unique moments of cultural exchange. In live audio chatrooms, American and Chinese users are discussing societal norms and misconceptions about each other’s cultures. Some American users, like Sarah Fotheringham from Utah, are even sharing educational content, such as explaining U.S. public school lunches to curious Chinese users.

“It’s like looking over the Chinese wall,” a Chinese user commented on one of Fotheringham’s videos.

However, language barriers and the app’s unfamiliar design have posed challenges for the new arrivals. “I have no idea what I’m doing here,” admitted one user in a post, summing up the sentiment of many TikTok migrants.

The Bigger Picture

Xiaohongshu’s unexpected rise highlights the ripple effects of the U.S. government’s scrutiny of TikTok and other foreign-owned apps. While Xiaohongshu is not directly targeted by the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the legislation could eventually affect any app owned by companies based in countries deemed foreign adversaries.

For now, the platform’s surge in popularity reflects not just a migration of users but also a unique opportunity for cultural exchange and dialogue across digital borders—though its future in the U.S. remains uncertain.