In fact, the app doesn’t even have a good English translation of its own name: Xiaohongshu is 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 of the same name, it has a different connotation in China, where users interpret it as a reliable source of information. -generated recommendations for mundane things, like which restaurant to go to or which cosmetic product to buy.
The recent influx of US users has certainly attracted the attention of Xiaohongshu’s existing user base. David Yang, a recent Chinese master’s graduate currently living in Paris, suddenly found his Xiaohongshu feed full of American users on Sunday. He had seen non-Chinese creators intentionally come to the platform before to attract Chinese followers, but nothing on this scale.
Now, when he scrolls through his Xiaohongshu homepage, about a quarter of the content comes from so-called TikTok refugees, according to a screen recording he shared. “Some of them ask what Chinese people think about certain issues, like the United States, LGBT or other social issues. And some invite Chinese users to ask them questions. And some just use the app like they use TikTok and post whatever they find interesting,” Yang told WIRED. The concentration of real, 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, reach out to them, like the videos posted by the TikTok refugees and follow their accounts. Some take the time to try to explain how the application works to people who have difficulty finding their way due to the language barrier.
Sarah Fotheringhama TikTok user since 2021 from Utah, tells WIRED that she has a surprisingly good time at Xiaohongshu despite relying on Google Translate to use the platform. In her first two days on the app, she spent a few hours each day and posted four videos, the last one explaining the American school lunch to Chinese users. “People have contacted us to offer help in everything from navigating the app, adding subtitles to videos, and translations,” says Fotheringham. “A comment on my video was from a Chinese netizen. She said, ‘Wow, it’s like looking over the Chinese Wall.’ And for me, it was my first time seeing it. “
“Most of [new Xiaohongshu users] are probably in the curiosity phase. I think there might be moments of culture shock or controversy over time, but that would be part of the process of getting to know each other on a deeper level,” Yang says.
