TikTok users jump to alternatives like China’s RedNote app amid potential US ban

The news: Anticipating a US ban, avid TikTok users and content creators are moving to other social apps, notably RedNote and ByteDance’s Lemon8.

It’s the latest consumer content consumption trend and a wake-up call for US-based TikTok competitors Instagram and Snapchat, which stand to lose momentum to emerging apps.

A notable shift: Users’ sudden moves to Chinese social media app RedNote is the most surprising development. Owned by Shanghai-based Xingyin Information Technology, RedNote is a TikTok clone that allows users to share videos, post pictures, and access shopping features.

• RedNote was the most downloaded free app on the US Apple App Store and on Google Play on Tuesday, per Appfigures.
• With 300 million active users, mostly from China, RedNote’s numbers pale in comparison to TikTok’s projected 1.8 billion users in 2024, per Business of Apps.
• It remains to be seen whether RedNote can sustain its momentum or even if the platform can scale to accommodate the influx of new users. 
• RedNote doesn’t pay creators based on the number of views or followers they have, so they rely on product commissions to make money. The lack of an analog to TikTok’s Creator Rewards could be a deterrent to profits.

The opportunity: RedNote is China’s leading social media platform for influencer-driven campaigns, with 59% of brands choosing the platform for viral brand building, per Pjdaren. 

There are 140,000 brands on RedNote, per Vogue Business. By comparison, TikTok said it was the preferred platform for 5 million businesses in 2023.

A continued exodus of TikTok refugees singling out RedNote as their social app of choice could result in exponential user growth and engagement, but content creators could have some difficulty exporting their TikTok monetization strategies.

Our take: The irony of ByteDance’s TikTok users flocking to Chinese-owned alternatives, including Lemon8, indicates they’re not concerned about an app’s perceived ties to Beijing or national security—two key arguments driving the US government’s push for a TikTok ban.

The rapid shift to alternatives, at least for content consumers, reveals continued desire for infinite-scroll content algorithms as a key driver for online content and monetization. 

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