The app, which means “Little Red Book” in Spanish, climbed to the top of the App Store in the United States last Tuesday, January 14.
Founded in 2013, the platform boasts over 300 million users and is described as the Chinese Instagram.
It features tips on travel, makeup, fashion, and other popular content.
In recent years, it has become a versatile and essential app for the daily lives of young Chinese, especially those living in first-tier cities.
Following the U.S. authorities’ ban on the TikTok app, over 700,000 new users joined XiaoHongshu within two days, according to Reuters.
The hashtag “TikTok refugee” has garnered 250 million views and more than 5.5 million comments.
Is this the end of a digital era and the beginning of a new one looking to the East?
The sudden migration of Western users to Xiaohongshu has created an unlikely platform for Chinese users and Westerners to interact. Although the app is designed for the Chinese market, since January 19 it has been receiving translation updates in more than 20 languages to facilitate smoother communication.
Most Chinese users have warmly welcomed the newcomers, with some even sharing video tutorials to help the new “TikTok refugees” navigate the app, not without a touch of humor and curiosity.
One person even seized the opportunity presented by the influx of American internet users to ask for help with their English homework in a viral post that received over 2,000 likes.
Ivy Yang, a Chinese tech analyst and founder of the consulting firm Wavelet Strategy, said that the new American users had "unexpectedly created one of the most organic forms of cultural exchange between the United States and China we’ve seen in recent years."
This American migration has also had a rebound effect on other Western nations joining the platform, discovering a new digital system with content that leaves a pleasant impression and a sense of freshness.