“RedNote: The Must-Have App TikTok Lovers Can’t Resist Before the Ban!”

New York
CNN
 — 

TikTok is merely three days away from a potential prohibition in the United States, yet numerous users are already bidding adieu to the app and searching for alternatives.

Influencer Jasmine Chiswell shared a video on Tuesday, displaying her dismay over text that states: “Me bidding farewell to 18 million best friends because TikTok is facing a ban,” accompanied by sad face and broken heart emojis.

The anxiety over a ban intensified after a report late Tuesday from The Information indicated that TikTok will completely shut down for US users starting Sunday, should it not prevail in its Supreme Court appeal or secure an American owner by that time. Prior to the report, many anticipated US app stores to withdraw TikTok, yet believed that existing users would still be able to access the app on their devices, at least temporarily.

Nevertheless, there is no lack of TikTok imitator apps eager to embrace those users, now referring to themselves as “TikTok refugees,” on their platforms. However, the apps gaining traction this week aren’t the typical TikTok competitors, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight or X.

Rather, a range of newer applications have surged onto app stores this week, including RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu), Lemon8, Clapper, Flip, and Fanbase.

The race to become the new haven for TikTok aficionados serves as a reminder that despite extensive attempts by major tech platforms to replicate the appealing features of the short-form video app, users still perceive there is no genuine TikTok substitute.

“A fair government for the people, established by the people does not compel its citizens to utilize Instagram Reels,” creator Mike Gottschalk conveyed in a TikTok video. “Instagram is harvesting my data in precisely the same manner as TikTok is. We can all pretend that there’s going to be a new app that swoops in as a knight in shining armor to replace TikTok, but I think we all understand that it’s just going to be Reels. And that is how empires fall apart.”

Leading the ranks on Apple’s and Google’s app stores this week: RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, an app based in China that resembles Instagram, popular for providing insights on travel, makeup, and fashion.

Numerous American users who registered on the app this week suggested they were doing so in defiance of the US government, which prohibited TikTok over national security issues related to its China-based parent organization.

Take away their TikTok, they expressed, and they would merely shift to another Chinese application.

“I relinquish all my data to China. Here you are, China, in exchange for retaining my TikTok, you can have all my details,” a TikTok user known as @Thiqydusty stated in a video.

However, the surge of new users to RedNote — which had previously been largely restricted to the Chinese-speaking community — has also resulted in several amusing moments of cultural exchange in recent days, with users providing Mandarin lessons, sharing knowledge about Chinese and English internet slang, and advocating for the app to introduce automatic subtitles in both languages.

Language learning app Duolingo announced on Wednesday it has witnessed a 216% increase in new Mandarin users compared to this time last year, potentially attributed to the Americans joining RedNote, which features a plethora of content in Mandarin. “Learning Mandarin out of spite? You’re not on your own,” Duolingo remarked in a post on X.

Lemon8, a Pinterest-like application from TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, has also enjoyed a newfound surge in popularity this week. The company initially began promoting the application to Americanusers in the beginning of 2023, when TikTok CEO Shou Chew was summoned before Congress to provide testimony regarding the app’s data privacy measures.

However, both of these platforms could eventually be governed by a statute that prohibits applications run by a US “foreign adversary” — the same regulation intended to restrict TikTok’s operations. (Several cybersecurity professionals have already expressed worries that RedNote might also share US user information with the Chinese administration and that numerous Americans may not fully grasp what they are consenting to when they agree to the app’s terms of service, which are solely available in Mandarin.)

“This classification encompasses TikTok and any other social media and mobile application that is controlled by China or by investors associated with China,” asserted Elettra Bietti, assistant professor of law and computer science at Northeastern University. She noted that it would be up to the president to provide a public announcement that the platforms were subject to enforcement under the statute.

“In my view, the surge of Chinese applications is highlighting the limitations of an app-by-app classification under (the statute), along with the US government’s constrained capacity to regulate how US citizens navigate the internet and on which platforms they decide to articulate themselves,” Bietti remarked.

Naturally, there are also non-Chinese substitutes available.

Clapper, a short-form video platform that features a live audio conversation capability similar to X, informed CNN that it acquired 1.4 million new users over the past week, including 400,000 just on Wednesday.

Additionally, Flip — a shopping-centric short-form video application that presently ranks No. 6 on the Apple App Store — issued an apology to users on Sunday after unexpectedly swift growth caused the app to operate “either very slowly or completely unavailable for most users.”

“Users who are on TikTok are not going to migrate to one single platform… I believe they will explore many different ones, depending on where their communities reside and what sort of content (they create),” stated Jake Maughan, head of influencer marketing at advertising agency BENlabs.

Are Instagram and YouTube taking a backseat?

Certainly, mainstream platforms like Instagram and YouTube will almost certainly gain from TikTok’s disappearance, despite the increased competition. Major technology companies have recently restructured their operations to better contend with TikTok, leading to a broader transformation in the social media landscape, moving away from friend-centric feeds to prioritizing entertainment and fresh content that keeps users engaged for extended periods.

Nonetheless, downloads of Snapchat and YouTube declined this week in comparison to the previous week, according to market research company Sensor Tower. And while Instagram downloads increased by 2% week-over-week, the quantity of daily active users remained essentially unchanged from the previous week.

A significant number of users express that those applications still lack the enchantment of TikTok.

The grievances range from minor irritations — for instance, unlike on TikTok, you cannot pause an Instagram Reels video unless you press your finger on the screen — to more nuanced concerns, such as community interaction. On TikTok, users feel they can be more inventive and less refined, receiving positive feedback in the comments, whereas Instagram often experiences more negativity.

Moreover, since each of the platforms promotes somewhat different content, achieving success as an influencer on TikTok does not ensure the same triumph on other applications.

Molinaro informed CNN that on TikTok, “I get to express myself a little more freely, more authentically. I have the opportunity to remove the curation aspect and simply engage openly with (my followers) and enjoy their company.”

“TikTok favors genuineness. I feel that the other platforms are almost a tad more narcissistic, while TikTok is entirely about presenting yourself authentically, and many people find that relatable,” creator Stormi Steele shared with CNN.

Steele also expresses concern about potentially losing access to TikTok Shop, the app’s e-commerce feature that allows creators to conduct live selling events. She mentioned her brand, Canvas Beauty, currently generates $2 million to $3.5 million per month on TikTok.

Ultimately, it is the TikTok algorithm that distinguishes the app, providing users with video content based on often astonishingly precise forecasts of what they will find enjoyable, no matter if they follow those creators or not. Any alternative would need to mimic that algorithm to truly replace TikTok.

“The algorithm that TikTok has devised and fine-tuned is unparalleled. Even YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels feel outdated in comparison to TikTok,” Maughan commented. “TikTok was revolutionary. The concept that anyone can achieve virality, make their mark, and gain millions (of followers) overnight — you still can’t find that phenomenon anywhere else.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter contributed to this article.