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Red hot: key facts about Xiaohongshu, the Chinese app taking the US by storm

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Within the days main as much as a proposed US authorities ban on the social media platform TikTok, American customers have turned to a different Chinese language-owned app, Xiaohongshu.

The USA handed a regulation final yr forcing the favored video platform’s proprietor ByteDance to both promote it or shut it down by January 19.

With that deadline looming, Xiaohongshu—a lifestyle-focused Instagram-meets-Pinterest various—has been propelled to the highest of the US Apple App Retailer free downloads chart.

The hashtag “tiktokrefugee” had greater than 290 million views as of midday on Wednesday.

Listed here are some key info about Xiaohongshu:

Origin

Xiaohongshu—or RedNote in English—was launched in Shanghai in 2013 by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu.

Xiaohongshu interprets actually to Little Red E-book, however shouldn’t be a reference to Chinese language communist chief Mao Zedong’s e book of quotations.

In an interview with analysis company Shensixing, Xiaohongshu founder Mao stated that he considered his time at Bain & Firm and Stanford Enterprise College as “two major milestones” in his life.

“Their primary color theme is red, so we decided to call it ‘Little Red Book’,” he stated, based on a transcript of the interview.

Till Monday, Xiaohongshu was common primarily amongst Chinese language-speaking customers—the vast majority of whom are young women in urban areas, based on information evaluation platform Qiangua.

In distinction, different Chinese language on-line platforms like Weibo cater to a broader viewers.

Moreover mainland China, Xiaohongshu has gained traction amongst different Chinese language diasporas in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

It boasted 300 million month-to-month lively customers on the finish of 2023.

Content material

Not like TikTok’s sister app Douyin or the micro-blogging website Weibo, Xiaohongshu leans closely in direction of apolitical content material comparable to life-style, journey, magnificence and meals matters.

Xiaohongshu’s “Explore” web page is just like TikTok’s “For You” web page—each curated by an algorithm that implies content material based mostly on customers’ pursuits and interactions on the platforms.

It’s also a web-based market just like TikTok Store, the place customers can straight purchase gadgets together with clothes, make-up, and equipment.

It’s seen as comparatively much less censored than different platforms: customers may be discovered posting LGBTQ content material and discussing the deserves of ladies remaining single, matters usually thought of delicate in China.

Xiaohongshu has additionally popularized “da ka”, or “check-in” tourism, the place vacationers plan itineraries round scenic or trending spots particularly to take images for social media.

And just like Instagram and TikTok, the platform has additionally grow to be a hub for influencers endorsing sponsored merchandise.

Largely Chinese language

Xiaohongshu’s major problem to retaining these new US customers is the language barrier, specialists have informed AFP.

The app is generally in Chinese language and has no auto-translation instruments.

The platform additionally focuses overwhelmingly on content material tailor-made to China, whereas most merchandise seem to solely ship inside the nation.

In public group chats on the platform, new US customers have requested for translations of slang phrases, in addition to key phrases to seek for content material they wished.

Consultants say the inflow of American customers on the app could also be extra of a short-term response than a long-term pattern.

© 2025 AFP

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Red scorching: key info about Xiaohongshu, the Chinese language app taking the US by storm (2025, January 15)
retrieved 15 January 2025
from https://techxplore.com/information/2025-01-red-hot-key-facts-xiaohongshu.html

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