Opinion | From TikTok to RedNote: a digital migration that defies geopolitics

Amid the saga over TikTok being banned in the United States, an unexpected twist has sparked perhaps the most interesting grass-roots cultural exchange between US and Chinese internet users in recent history. Rather than migrating to American alternatives such as YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, hundreds of thousands of TikTok users have moved to RedNote, the Chinese social media platform also known as Xiaohongshu.

This mass migration coincides with what outgoing US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns described in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal as a peaceful battle of ideas to show Chinese people “the true face of American society”. Now American social media users are mirroring his suggestion – getting to know Chinese society by joining a Chinese platform.

These “TikTok refugees” are doing more than just finding a new platform for their content. They are engaging in a form of digital resistance that challenges conventional power dynamics in social and mass media. These users are willingly entering a Chinese-language digital space, reversing the typical flow of global social media migration.

What makes this exodus remarkable is not just its scale but its nature. Users are doing more than reposting content – they are actively engaging with Chinese internet users, creating bilingual content, seeking language exchange partners and even helping each other with homework.

This cyber migration has revealed something profound about cross-cultural communication in our hyperconnected age. While government-sponsored initiatives spend millions on cultural exchange programmes, these digital migrants are achieving more authentic cultural understanding through shared memes, mutual language learning and genuine curiosity about each other’s daily lives and social realities.

RedNote itself – originally known for lifestyle content, travel discoveries and product recommendations – has become an unexpected digital classroom for cross-cultural understanding. US users are sharing their struggles with healthcare costs, multiple jobs and student debt, while Chinese users are offering insights into their own daily lives. This is creating a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding than any official narrative could provide.