TikTok was banned from American app stores on January 19th for less than 24 hours. Despite TikTok being unbanned, it is still not available on app stores. This means that anyone who deleted the app is now unable to re-download it. 

So, as people wait for new developments on the situation, some Americans have performed a mass exodus to similar apps such as Rednote, also known as Xiaohongshu. 

Rednote is almost a direct copy-and-paste version of TikTok. In Rednote, there is a messenger system and the app is mainly based around reels, similar to Instagram. 

In a nutshell, Rednote is designed like Instagram but acts like TikTok. Similarly to many other social media apps, the account creation process is very easy, the only requirement is to enter your phone number, Rednote will then send you a code, and an account is automatically created.  

Not only is it as easy as a phone number, you can use your Apple ID to sign in as well. New users immediately go through a decision process, picking topics they would like to see on their “reels”, assisting the basic algorithm that accompanies many social media sites.

However, unlike TikTok, many of these topics are limited, mainly garnered towards the subject of traveling and tourism. 

As expected, the typical American “brain rot” has spread to China as people have noticed a strange amount of Chinese subtitled Family Guy shorts on the app. Several American teenagers addicted to TikTok have traveled to this app, leading to an unprecedented amount of strange videos working their way around the algorithm. 

After nearly ten minutes of opening the app, a large amount of pet videos and “brain rot” has spread throughout my feed. 

Many reels that appear on my feed are in Mandarin as well, representing the Chinese creators of the app. 

American reels, slowly trickling into Rednote, are also to be expected, discussing their experience with the app and opinions that Americans are known to have and publicly express.

For American newcomers, expect to see more Chinese reels than American reels from what Rednote is calling “TikTok refugees.”  

The immediate influx of American users has brought about some obvious changes, from automated subtitles to “TikTok refugees”, it is clear that the banning of TikTok and the appearance of Rednote seem to be very influential to teenagers of our generation.