In fact, the app doesn’t even have a good English translation of its own name: Xiaohongshu is the just the phonetic translation of its Chinese name. 小红书. While the literal translation “little red book” may remind English-speaking users of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s collection of speeches and propaganda slogans by the same name, it has a different connotation in China, where users interpret it as a source of reliable user-generated recommendations for mundane things, like which restaurant to go to or which cosmetic product to buy.
The recent influx of American users has certainly caught the attention of Xiaohongshu’s existing user base. David Yang, a recent master’s program graduate from China currently living in Paris, suddenly found his Xiaohongshu feed full of American users on Sunday. He had previously seen some non-Chinese creators intentionally coming to the platform to attract Chinese followers, but nothing at this scale.
Now, when he scrolls his Xiaohongshu home page, about one quarter of the content is from so-called TikTok refugees, according to a screen recording he shared. “Some of them are asking what Chinese people think of certain issues, like the USA, LGBT, or other social issues. And some are inviting Chinese users to ask them questions. And some are just using the app like they use TikTok and post anything they find interesting,” Yang tells WIRED. The concentration of genuine personal content shared by normal people rather than polished influencers was refreshing, he added.
Chinese Xiaohongshu users are fascinated by the influx of new voices. Most of them, especially those who speak English, are extending a welcoming hand, liking the videos posted by TikTok refugees and following their accounts. Some are taking the time to try to explain how the app works to people who find it hard to navigate due to the language barrier.
Sarah Fotheringham, a TikTok user since 2021 from Utah, tells WIRED she’s having a surprisingly nice time at Xiaohongshu despite relying on Google Translate to use the platform. For her first two days on the app, she has spent a few hours each day and posted four videos, the last one explaining the US school lunch to Chinese users. “People have reached out to offer help in every way, from navigating the app, adding subtitles to videos, and translations,” Fotheringham says. “One comment on my video was from a Chinese user. She said, ‘wow it’s like looking over the Chinese wall.’ And for me, it’s been my first time seeing in.”
“Most of the [new Xiaohongshu users] are probably in the curiosity phase. I think moments of cultural shock or controversies could emerge as time goes on, but that would be part of the process for them to know each other on a deeper level,” Yang says.
