This Chinese version of TikTok is absolutely taking over the Internet. Let's talk about it.
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00:00If you haven't been living under a rock recently, you probably know that TikTok is getting banned.
00:05That's right, it's gonna be gone.
00:06Matter of fact, by the time you're watching this video, it might already be gone.
00:10And to be honest, if it does get banned, it will be a little bit sad for me.
00:13I started on TikTok, I built an amazing community on TikTok,
00:16and, uh, probably wouldn't be making this video if it weren't for TikTok.
00:20Anyways, with this ban that's about to happen,
00:22people are trying to find a new app that's very similar to TikTok
00:25so that they have a replacement or an alternative.
00:28And quite a bit of apps are becoming pretty popular because of this,
00:31like this one called Lemonade that's actually owned by TikTok,
00:34so I don't know how that would work if TikTok's getting banned.
00:36I feel like this one would too.
00:37There's also this one called Clapper that's becoming pretty popular,
00:41but the most popular of them all is this one.
00:44And, uh, as you can see, it's not even in English.
00:46It's called Xiaohongshu.
00:48Hopefully I pronounced that right.
00:49Thousands of Americans are downloading this app,
00:51and the funny thing about it is it's not even made for Americans.
00:54You see, TikTok is a Chinese app that's made for Americans,
00:58and this is a Chinese app that's not even made for Americans.
01:01It's made for Chinese people.
01:02So basically, the government's plan to ban TikTok
01:04because it's a Chinese app is low-key backfiring
01:07because people are now downloading an app that's arguably way more Chinese.
01:11Anyways, it's a pretty interesting app.
01:12I've actually been messing around with it.
01:14I even tried to go viral on it, so stay tuned for that.
01:16But until then, let's talk about this video
01:18that sums up this entire situation really well.
01:21All my new Chinese friends out there.
01:24They're showing up in online droves.
01:26Hello, red notes.
01:27Oh my gosh, TikTok refugee here.
01:30See, I love how Americans who have moved to this app
01:32are calling themselves refugees.
01:34I feel like that's a strong word.
01:36Like, listen, I understand that this TikTok ban sucks.
01:39It's horrible.
01:40But let's look up the definition of refugee really quick.
01:43It's a person who has been forced to leave their country
01:46in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
01:49I feel like for us to call ourselves refugees is slightly dramatic.
01:54It's not like we're about to die.
01:55An app is getting banned.
01:57TikTok users looking for a new home and finding it here.
02:01This might be better than TikTok.
02:02I won't lie, after messing around on it for a bit
02:04and trying to go viral on it, it is a fun app.
02:07It's a very fun app.
02:08And I think that's just because it's new.
02:10I don't think it's going to last simply because it's not built for us.
02:13But we'll see, I guess.
02:15On Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book,
02:17the English name shortened to Red Note,
02:20it's become the most downloaded app in the US Apple Store.
02:23It's so weird seeing the number one free app in the Apple Store
02:27having absolutely no English characters on it.
02:30With over 700,000 new users in the past week alone.
02:34Ni hao. Did I do it? Did I get it right?
02:37Part Chinese Instagram, part search engine,
02:40Xiaohongshu is one of China's most popular platforms.
02:44I'm Becca and I'm introducing myself as a lifestyle vlogger.
02:48Becca Wong is a lifestyle vlogger.
02:50Okay, I'm introducing you to the New Year's gift box.
02:53She uses her account, who's Becca, to create product reviews.
02:57It's more elegant compared to Chinese version of TikTok.
03:02I hate to break it to you, Becca,
03:03but that elegance is going to be gone if these Americans stay on the app.
03:07We can't keep anything elegant. I'm sorry.
03:09I mean, after scrolling on the app for a little bit and playing around with it,
03:12I'm already seeing brain rot.
03:13Imagine if Ninja got a low taper fade.
03:16You know what's crazy?
03:17When the low taper fade meme has made it across the seas
03:20and into the hands of Xiaohongshu,
03:22you know that the meme is not only massive,
03:24but it's destroying the elegance of Xiaohongshu.
03:28So yeah, the brain rot has made it over.
03:30The elegance is going to be gone, unfortunately.
03:32On behalf of all Americans, Becca, I apologize.
03:35I even found the first American getting canceled on this app.
03:38He posted this video.
03:39I don't speak Chinese.
03:42And you see, everyone's stealing it.
03:44Everybody on TikTok is going to RedTube now.
03:47Who started that?
03:49I did.
03:50So he's basically just crashing out about Chinese TikTok.
03:52And the people in the comments are not happy.
03:54Americans and Chinese people.
03:55This isn't our app.
03:56Stop acting like this, please.
03:58We came to their app.
03:58This is beyond disrespectful.
04:00He said, get a life.
04:01No, they're going to think we're all crazy.
04:02They really are.
04:03They're not going to understand the humor in this at all.
04:05This person just said, who can teach them to add subtitles?
04:08They're probably watching this video not knowing what he's saying,
04:12thinking, what the fuck is going on?
04:14And then someone said, no worries.
04:15It's basically just him bitching about not wanting to speak Chinese
04:18or accommodate for y'all.
04:19Yeah, this guy, get this guy off the app.
04:20You know what?
04:21He's getting canceled for a good reason.
04:24All right.
04:24Critics argue the law pushing TikTok toward extinction goes against free speech.
04:29The Supreme Court will have its say on that.
04:32This morning, I opened up my little Redbook and what the hell is going on?
04:35For now, the Americans pivoting east has veteran users of the app leaning in.
04:41You better learn a little bit Chinese.
04:44Memes of a terracotta warrior embracing Lady Liberty.
04:48Comments ranging from jokes about spies to offers of help with homework.
04:52Yeah, I've seen so many people, you know,
04:55Chinese people on this app that are asking Americans to help them out with their English
04:59homework and Americans are so happy to help.
05:01It's kind of wholesome, to be honest.
05:02Just don't forget to pay the cat tax that asks American users to introduce their cat.
05:08Yeah, this cat tax thing is going crazy right now.
05:11Everybody's talking about a cat tax.
05:13Unfortunately, I don't have a cat, so I'm basically committing tax fraud,
05:16but I have been seeing a lot of videos of Americans where they are paying their cat tax,
05:19like this one of my good friend Nate paying his cat tax.
05:22And the comments are just a bunch of other cats.
05:24It's awesome, honestly.
05:25Here we got a family just showing their cat upside down.
05:28This person said, this is my first cat.
05:30It's very cute.
05:31And I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one.
05:33That cat scares me.
05:34Someone said, will they accept one of my dogs?
05:35Look at this dog.
05:36It's so, it's so cute.
05:38I think this is a great moment for like a little bonding to happen.
05:42This unexpected US China connection,
05:44creating what some are daring to call a kind of digital diplomacy.
05:49See, this is exactly what the government didn't want.
05:51And with TikTok, it wasn't even happening.
05:53But now because they're banning TikTok, it made this situation so much worse for them.
05:57And I love the way it backfired on them.
05:59It's kind of funny.
06:00The vast majority of people in China's mainland have never even talked to a foreigner.
06:06It really seems like a surreal moment.
06:09Thank you, my Red Note brothers and sisters.
06:11The migration is also for some Americans, an act of protest,
06:15at least for Diego Abane from Pasadena.
06:18I don't know what's going to happen to TikTok.
06:20Who like others joined Xiaohongshu after hearing on TikTok about other options.
06:25They're just all joining on this app instead of going to any like meta app,
06:29like Instagram or like X or things like that,
06:32just to not support them and saying that it's not,
06:36it's not really the app that's the problem.
06:39What sort of comments are you getting?
06:40Literally anything from cat pictures to people just saying nice video.
06:44Yeah, they love cats on Xiaohongshu for some reason.
06:47Americans would literally rather learn Mandarin than use Instagram reels.
06:51Yeah, because of all of this, Duolingo literally had a 216%
06:55spike in US users trying to learn Mandarin.
06:58And I don't think any one of them is actually going to follow through with that.
07:02We all know how Duolingo works.
07:04That bird is going to be calling their name desperately two months from now.
07:08Not to mention Mandarin is one of the hardest languages to learn if you're English speaking.
07:12That Chinese state media coverage of TikTok refugees seems positive,
07:16signals the government here may not crack down yet.
07:19Even the main Communist Party newspaper sounds delighted with the interaction.
07:24People are really seeing this as a historic moment in cultural communications
07:29and they're trying to remember it, that we can be friends.
07:33Not all Chinese users are thrilled with Americans piling into their online community.
07:39The honeymoon may not last, but for now, it seems everyone is talking.
07:44Yeah, so this app is absolutely taking over and I've been posting some of my own videos.
07:48But unfortunately, I haven't been super successful.
07:51I've had this app downloaded for about 24 hours now.
07:54And as of now, I have 16 followers.
07:56Update, as I'm editing this video, we're at 22.
07:59Let's go.
08:0016 awesome followers.
08:02But I will say the interactions that I have had are awesome.
08:05I posted this picture that has 40 views of the sunset here in Florida.
08:08And someone in China posted the picture of their sunset in Zhuhai of the Guangdong province.
08:14And it's honestly beautiful.
08:15It's so cool that I was just brought together and could relate to someone
08:18who's completely on the opposite side of the world for me.
08:21Someone said the homeland of the alligator.
08:23That is true.
08:23Florida is very stereotypical for having massive alligators.
08:26Maybe I'll start posting alligator content for the Chinese fellas.
08:29I also posted one of my most viral YouTube shorts on there.
08:32It only got 151 views and three likes, unfortunately.
08:35And I also made this video.
08:36Help me make this video go viral.
08:38Click every button possible.
08:40Share this with everyone you know.
08:42And it did not work, unfortunately.
08:43But I got three welcome comments from Chinese people.
08:46Anyways, it's a pretty fun app.
08:47And it's so interesting to see these two sides of the world being brought together
08:51just because of this TikTok ban.
08:52Anyways, shout out TikTok and shout out Red Note.
08:55And shout out to all of you people in China who have welcomed us Americans,
08:58who are very chaotic, to this app.
09:00That's about it for today.
09:01I kind of just wanted to talk about that because I find it very interesting.
09:04But if you're new here, please subscribe.
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09:10That's about it, guys.
09:11I'll see you in the next video.
09:12Peace.