'It’s so fun over there': Americans flock to Chinese app RedNote ahead of potential TikTok ban

As we wait until January 19 for the Supreme Court to decide whether or not to ban TikTok, Americans are already preparing for the worst-case scenario by joining an alternative app.

Xiaohongshu (translated means "little red book"), other nicknames include XHS, REDnote, and RED, is currently the No.1 free app in the US App Store.

Founded in 2013, the Chinese social media and e-commerce platform is considered a mix between Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, while, the South China Morning Post describes it as "China’s answer to Instagram,” where users post lifestyle content.

With 300 million monthly active users, it's one of China's most popular apps and is estimated to be worth $3 billion as per TechCrunch.

U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan bill in April last year to ban TikTok unless it finds a new owner, with concerns that the app is “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale” due to alleged links with China and the data of US users being shared with the country's Communist government - something which both TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have denied and has resulted in them challenging this at the Supreme Court.

There is the potential for the ban to be postponed, as President-elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated on January 20. Despite previously pushing for TikTok to be banned in 2020, he has since sought to delay the ban and find a solution.

Meanwhile, many have pointed out the devastating economic impact a TikTok ban would have on creators who earn a living posting content on the platform and small businesses where TikTok sales are a significant income stream.

Since Americans have been flocking to RedNote, there have been lots of reaction videos and memes about the move - here are some of the most viral ones.

"Me on Rednote trying to tell them what happened to TikTok," @leci.bby wrote, adding in the caption how she's "Just made my account already see my people".

The video has over 3.6m views with people in the comments sharing their thoughts on Rednote after joining the app.

One person wrote: "WE'RE GETTING CALLED TIKTOK REFUGEESS," while another added: "I was scrolling for so long and forgot it wasn’t TikTok."

"The US government waking up to see that Rednote is the #1 most downloaded app," @annapaigemorgan posted with an image of Pepe the King Prawn, which has 7m views.

"We petty and I love it, see you on rednote," she added in the caption.

In the comments, one person wrote: "Congress: “THEIR DOING WHAT!?!” while another person said: "It’s so fun over there".

TikToker @notyourmom1980 wrote: "You can't just download RedNote you don't even speak Chinese," and added the American reaction by sharing a meme of Shaun Williamson (who Brits will know as Barry from EastEnders) singing "We're gonna do it anyway".

The video has over 905,000 views as people shared their experiences on the app after signing up.

One person said: "We're all going to be speaking Mandarin by the end of the year," and another person wrote: "Did it and my algorithm was already locked in."

TikTok/notyourmom1980

While other non-Americans have also joined Rednote as they didn't want to fear missing out on anything, like @notcassiesbooktok shared in a funny post with 1.6m views.

Elsewhere, what will happen if a potential US TIkTok ban happens, and how you can still access the social media app.

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