While the future of TikTok remains in the balance, Xiaohonghshu, better known as RedNote in English, is trying to gain new popularity by collaborating with US influencers who can help promote the company and bring more Americans to the platform. The Chinese lifestyle and travel app, which has more than 300 million monthly active users, climbed to the top of the US app store charts last week as the TikTok ban loomed. based marketing agency, made the creators of sponsored posts for RedNote, presenting their own videos telling their followers about the Chinese app that suddenly rose in the US. The brief asks creators to describe “how fun and engaging the app is” and to “emphasize user-friendly design and international appeal.” He also instructed them to share their own RedNote accounts and encourage their followers to join the platform. Xiaohongshu did not return a request for comment sent to his official WeChat account. Solare Global also did not respond to requests for comment asking how many influencers it contacted or how much the company expected to pay for each post. The brief seen by WIRED requires creators to edit their videos on a 24-hour timeline to ensure they leave until January 17, the same day the Supreme Court is set to decide whether TikTok’s ban will take effect two days later. It also stipulates that influencers must leave their videos for at least six months. Xiaohongshu was founded in 2013 and has long focused on the domestic audience in China, especially young women living in big cities. Like TikTok, it revolves around a central algorithm that recommends users an infinite number of posts based on their interests and behavior. But instead of showing people one video at a time, Xiaohongshu displays a slideshow of photos, text posts, and videos in a grid format. Because it is accessible in China, Xiaohongshu must comply with strict censorship rules imposed by Beijing. (WIRED previously reported that Xiaohongshu was working to hire English-speaking moderators to help manage the flood of content posted by Americans.) TikTok, on the other hand, is not available in China. Its parent company, ByteDance, operates a separate video application there called Douyin. The influx of Americans on Xiaohongshu provides a rare opportunity for people in the US and China to connect on a shared social media platform. Some users spend hours asking new overseas pen pals about their countries and cultures, ranging from what school lunches are like in Wisconsin to what a typical apartment looks like in Chengdu. It now appears that Xiaohongshu is trying to capitalize on these sentiments to promote itself as a positive global platform. “And we think that’s really cool.”
RedNote Recruits US Influencers to Promote App Amid TikTok Ban
