There is something incomprehensible about the fact that Americans are ready to donate their data to any dictatorial regimes, just so they don't give it to their own companies, such as Meta or Google. After it became clear that TikTok would stop working, people rushed to look for an alternative, finding it in another Chinese garbage called RedNote. One problem: it doesn't greet new users in English at all.
What is RedNote
To begin with, it is worth recalling what RedNote is. We have already written a detailed article about it, which you can read at this link, but in short, it is an application with similar functions to TikTok, similar to it in its video content and vertical scrolling, but it also provides the functions of a product showcase and an online store. The service was developed in China by a company that itself previously stated that it has ties to the local communist government, which means that all user data is in the hands of the party, writes 24 Channel.
The app also found a lot of censorship: you won't be able to find information about the Tiananmen Square events, former President Hu Jintao, who Xi Jinping doesn't like, and a number of other censored topics. Instead, they'll happily bombard you with content praising Xi Jinping, and if you break any of the rules, such as calling Taiwan an independent country, declaring “free Tibet,” mentioning concentration camps where thousands of Uyghurs are being held, saying “COVID came from China,” or that “Mao starved 45 million Chinese people,” expect a very quick ban.
As for bans, this app is very generous with them. You can find a lot of publications online in which Americans complain about the blocking, although they haven't had time to do anything yet. The system blocks them either immediately, or after some time, or after some specific actions. In one case, a user posted a video with a bag embroidered with the flag of Taiwan. The result was not long in coming.
Finally, the original name of RedNote in Chinese sounds like “Xiaohongshu”, and translates as “little red book”, which is a direct reference to the collection of quotes by Mao Zedong, which was published in a red cover.
There seems to be enough evidence? American users think not.
Everyone is learning Chinese
If you install RedNote, which we don’t recommend, you’ll immediately see that it opens in Chinese by default. Both the app itself and TikTok already have plenty of videos with instructions on how to change the language in the settings. However, it seems that not everyone has seen these instructions.
In addition, most of the content on the app is created in Chinese, as it is used by about 300 million Chinese people and only less than a million English speakers. This means that Americans, who do not have the same widespread practice of learning foreign languages as people outside the US, simply do not understand what the video is about.
This is apparently what has prompted the so-called “TikTok refugees” to start learning Chinese. According to Duolingo, the number of new users learning Chinese in the US has increased by about 216% compared to the same period last year, with a sharp spike in mid-January, when RedNote began to grow. The company also reports that a survey it asks new users about “Where did you hear about us?” has seen a corresponding spike in people choosing “TikTok” as their answer.Duolingo didn't miss the opportunity to further promote itself, so it posted a video on TikTok, promoting the use of its Chinese language learning app. The short video showed the company's mascot – a green owl. It is heading to the airport to fly to China. The text on the screen says: “Me, because I'd rather move to China and learn Chinese on Duolingo”. The video currently has over half a million likes. Another recent video, dedicated to learning Chinese phrases for “TikTok refugees,” has garnered over 620,000 likes.
Consumer demand for Duolingo's language courses has also impacted the number of app installs, according to data from app analytics company Appfigures. The company reports that the number of downloads of the Duolingo app in the United States has increased by 36% in both the App Store and Google Play.
- A week ago, Duolingo was ranked 40th in the “Best Apps” (without games) and “Best Overall” (with games) rankings.
- As of now, it is ranked 22nd in the overall ranking and 20th in the ranking best apps.
Recall that TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has only until January 19 to sell its American assets and prevent the service from being blocked in the US. But the Chinese developer has already stated that it would rather close everything and exit the market than sell its American office. Meanwhile, rumors claim that the Chinese government, which has influence in this matter, is discussing the possibility of selling to Elon Musk, with whom the Chinese authorities have good relations.