With the upcoming TikTok ban in the United States which will affect the 170 million users there, many are exploring alternative platforms to maintain their social media presence. One standout is RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu or “Little Red Book, or simply “Red”.
The app has seen an unprecedented surge in Western users over the past week with over 700,000 new users calling themselves #tiktokrefugees joining the platform in just two days. This increased awareness could present an opportunity for brands to reach a growing, engaged audience on a platform that combines some of the best features of TikTok and Instagram.
What is RedNote / Xiaohongshu / Little Red Book?
Red is a well-established Chinese social media app, launched in 2013, and how has over 300 million monthly active users with around 5-8% of those users outside of mainland China. The platform’s core focus on lifestyle content—covering travel, food, beauty, fashion, and wellness.
The core demographic of Red users are highly educated, living in 1st and 2nd Tier Cities in China, with strong spending power. The audience is 70% female and his continues to boost the popularity of categories including fashion, cosmetics and beauty.
It is most often compared to TikTok for its short-form video capabilities and Instagram for its visual curation, along with the “cluster feed” of Pinterest where 4 items can be seen at once on the feed, rather than a single item at a time on Instagram.
Like TikTok and Douyin, Red has also become a go-to search engine for user-driven recommendations, such as travel tips and product reviews. This is due to the “Nearby” tab on the home page, which only shows content that is close to the user, which boosts local engagement and social sharing.
Americans that are joining the platform are largely seeing content from other Americans in the US, alongside content from Chinese speaking Americans. There is plenty of curiosity about the platform and many new users are enjoying being able to connect and share content in a similar way to their experience on TikTok.
The use of Red as a search engine for product reviews helps enable a positive feedback loop known as the ‘social commerce cycle’ where users seek product reviews, and then buy products directly inside the app, from brands or from creator “shops”. Users then post their own reviews of the product on the platform and the cycle continues.
Instagram has shoppable posts, but that platform is not used as much for product reviews or as a search engine for reviews, so Red has a significant advantage here for engaging with an audience that is actively looking to buy products which are related to the most popular content areas.
New users have flocked to Red, driven by the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future in the U.S, but also some users have been frustrated by perceived overreach into personal social media use. For many users that have generated large audiences, including those that do live streaming, or sell on TikTok shop, the ban and the uncertainty around it has been particularly frustrating.
The Red quickly climbed to the top of Apple’s US App Store, and the influx of “TikTok refugees” could mark the platform’s first large-scale entry into the Western market, especially with the wide reporting coverage on the topic by outlets including Reuters, BBC, CNN and The Washington Post. The app now taking 2nd place on the USA App store is Lemon8, a Red/Instagram style platform also delivered by the Chinese company that created TikTok, Bytedance.
Red has a dynamic and organic way to build communities, including live streaming and excellent hashtag and trend integration, this mirrors the organic engagement that has make TikTok so popular. Content does not always need to be polished and elite like Instagram. It can be casual, personal and more authentic.
For brand owners, this surge in adoption represents a golden opportunity to tap into a new and rapidly growing user base. The platform’s focus on community-driven discovery means advertisers can benefit from Red’s high engagement and potential to build brand loyalty among culturally curious audiences.
Despite its popularity, RedNote is still adapting to Western markets. The app’s interface and icon remain largely tailored to its Chinese roots, with minimal bilingual support. While this may present a hurdle for some users and advertisers, it also highlights RedNote’s significant growth potential.
The development teams are working around the clock to make the platform more user friendly to English-speaking audiences. On international app stores, the app icon is still in Chinese, as the core audience was originally mandarin speakers overseas. It will be interesting to see if the team update this in the coming days as TikTok gets removed from the app store on Sunday.
Some brands are already playing up the TikTok ban and becoming #tiktokrefugees themselves, and posting on Red and other platforms, including Lemon8. The setup of official accounts takes longer, and there will be a range of popular brands on TikTok in the US that are keen to follow their audience of existing and potential customers to other platforms.
However the impact of the ban will not be an immediate shut-down of the system. The first stage is simply a removal of the App from the App store. Existing users will still have the app on their smartphones and the platform will still function in the USA, as it does around the rest of the world. The next issue will be if TikTok USA can find a local buyer for its operations, or if it is able to negotiate an appeal to the ban. There are already plans emerging to potentially reverse the ban.
For now, Red’s rapid rise to prominence may signal a shift and fragmentation of audiences as TikTok users look to other platforms which suit the style of content they wish to continue consuming and creating. For brands already advertising on TikTok, transitioning to or incorporating Red could ensure continued access to a young, engaged audience and a way to remain competitive.
For more insights on Red, make sure to download our China Social Media Platforms Guide here:
https://www.umssocial.com/china-social-media-platform-report/download
