TikTok's future in the United States is more uncertain than ever. Potential bans are coming, and angry TikTok users are looking for alternatives — not all of them are turning to US platforms like Instagram.

Instead, these self-proclaimed "TikTok refugees" attempt to fight the U.S. government that tries to ban their favorite apps due to national security concerns. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in China. Therefore, "TikTok refugees" are mainly aimed at social media platforms that are also operated by Chinese companies.

The app named RedNote is one of the most prominent options. Perhaps it's an understatement: at the time of writing, RedNote ranked No. 1 on both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store.

What is RedNote?

The Chinese name of RedNote is Xiaohongshu. (Also the name of the collection of works by Mao Zedong, a Chinese political revolutionary.) It is a popular social media application in its native country, created in 2013 by developer Xingyin Information Technology Co., Ltd. It's similar to TikTok, but not completely replicated.

Like TikTok, RedNote also hosts short videos that you can scroll unlimitedly. But besides videos, the app allows you to create collaborative "panels" and even shop in the market within its app – although I’m not sure how much shipping costs are to buy used furniture from around the world. Ultimately, it is a social media experience that the U.S. government may not have expected to be a gathering place for disgruntled Americans.

Of course, what attracts the crowd is RedNote's short videos similar to TikTok. I downloaded the app to see what was going on.

What data does it request when RedNote is installed

In terms of privacy and security, the app crawls your device ID, which the developer Star Inc may use to track your activity on other apps and websites. This is not good, but it is not uncommon: for reference, TikTok will also track your device ID, as well as your email address and phone number—RedNote will not track both data points. RedNote also collects other data points directly related to you, including your purchase history, search history, user ID, and contacts. Finally, the app will get many data points that are not directly associated with you, including your advertising data, product interactions, rough locations, product interactions, precise locations, physical address, name, phone number, photo or video, audio data, Customer support information, user content, crash data, and performance data.

It is worth noting again that many applications request such data points that are associated or not associated with your identity. You can choose what information you are willing to provide, and there are always steps to prevent certain data from leaking from your device to the application. For example, you can use a VPN to mask your location and device ID, or disable the app’s location settings altogether; create an account through Apple and use Hide My Email to protect your email address from the app; Disable photo and video access for the app unless you choose to share specific images and clips; if you wish to find your friends one by one, you can block the app from accessing your contacts.

What does it feel like to use RedNote for English speakers

When I scroll through the app, it looks a lot like TikTok combined with Instagram's exploration page. In fact, RedNote's main feed is called "Exploration", a grid layout for different videos you can view. Click on one and it will play. Scroll down and you can watch another video. If you have used a short video platform before, you will quickly grasp the key points. In fact, there is a dedicated "trend" tag that is your basic short video experience. Of course, RedNote also has some unique features: pinch, you can clear the UI and focus on the current video. Press and you'll find a range of extra options, including "Auto Scroll" if you scroll too much manually.

In most ways, this is a short video app that anyone who has watched TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts can quickly understand—perhaps other than actually reading a lot of the text in it. The developer of the app is not only located in China, but the main language of the app itself is said to be Mandarin, which means that most of the discussions on it are not conducted in English. If you don't understand Chinese like me, you may miss something because you are scrolling through comments and subtitles in languages ??you don't understand.

Of course, there are ways to translate the elements you show, but you may not have to: One feature of many English-speaking American users pouring into the app is that Chinese-speaking users now post in English as well. Users from both countries have even been chatting and joking: Chinese users are posting in English saying they are happy to see Americans because their work as "Chinese spies" will be retained. (Others seek help from Americans with English homework.) In general, users from both countries seem to be happy to get to know each other.

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Although RedNote has received so much attention this week, it is obviously far less popular than TikTok, even in China: the former has 300 million active users, while TikTok has 1 billion users. But if TikTok is banned in the U.S. next week, the app could lose 170 million of its U.S. users — at least those who don’t use workarounds to keep the app active. It would be interesting to see how RedNote will continue to develop and whether such development will in turn inspire the U.S. government to try to ban it too. If the TikTok ban is successful, it is not difficult to foresee that the RedNote ban becomes a reality.

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