Benni is studying communications at Towson University. She works at a movie theater, grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and recently got a cat named Stinky. Her passions include Sonic the Hedgehog and Appalachian storytelling. She is also a #TikTokRefugee—one of many Americans who “left” the social media platform TikTok for the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, better known to the American audience as Red Note.

In January of 2025, American users of TikTok moved en masse to Red Note. The mass movement—or “migration”—of these users—or “refugees”—happened in response to threats that the United States government was going to censor the app, blocking Americans’ access to free, short-form video content. This ban would have real-world consequences: countless small businesses in the United States are able to function because of the following they’ve amassed on TikTok. Economics aside, banning the app raises concerns of censorship, with the United States government facing accusations that the frantic push to ban TikTok is due to how well it spreads information that undermines political goals. Months later, TikTok has been briefly banned, unbanned but removed from the App Store, and then made available for download again about a month after it was banned in the first place.

So why did Benni download Red Note? As part of that wider political movement. “My understanding was that Trump and other social media like Meta kind of dominate, and they were upset that the youth were enjoying things that were not made by Americans,” she explained. 

And the research says she’s not wrong. The International Communication Gazette notes that when it comes to internet censorship, the west is suspicious of TikTok. “Nine out of the 10 countries that banned only TikTok were western. The geographic distribution of the platform censorship…suggests that western countries are mostly interested in banning TikTok instead of other platforms” (Al-Zaman 2024). Social media platforms regularly clash with Asian governments in particular over issues related to free speech and censorship, alleging a correlation between increased censorship and less democracy that favors the perspective of the west.

No changes have happened since TikTok reappeared on the app store. The idea of a TikTok ban is currently not mainstream concern. Neither is the presence of Americans on Red Note, which has noticeably decreased. But couldn’t there be more? It seems there should have been connections made, there should have been some noticeable empowerment among the people, gained from the interactions between average Americans and average Chinese citizens.

Dr. Xeurong Lu, an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Oregon State University, connected the flat-lining of activity to larger concerns about civil engagement. “Social media is supposed to make activism easier and get people more engaged. On the other side, we also see that some activities only happen online.” So many Americans joined Red Note and engaged with Chinese users. The Chinese users, “native” to the app, welcomed the Americans. It was an easy and positive example of mass political action. But how much does it really matter if it was only digital?

Following the Unfamiliar Road

Dr. Lu described the Red Note Migration as a process of organization and promotion. She observed that the app collaborated with American influencers on TikTok to present Red Note as a platform with limited moderation in a stark contrast to the censorship TikTok was facing. It was successfully enticing—people like to find out information for themselves, and it’s easy enough to sign up for an app. They were looking for a platform that was actively the opposite of the government’s suggestion, and that cultural desire—mixed with the social pressure of promotion— compelled more and more people to join Red Note.

There are a variety of reasons why people seek out social media platforms. The Journal of Business Research lists countless reasons why individuals might join a site: They have concern for others, they seek social benefits and advice, they want company and a way to pass the time. Social platforms offer utility, entertainment, and more—the value of which can’t be overstated in a digital world (Azer et al. 2021). But the average user isn’t normally thinking about all of that. The #TikTokRefugees, however, were—and they considered their ability to access content without censorship to be political enough to respond to in an organized manner.

Everything is Political

As the internet becomes more widely-used, people ironically seem to be less involved in real-life politics. People are expressing active frustration towards formal representative democracy, and the internet is both seen as and used as a way to “increase citizen participation and hence legitimize the representative democratic system” (Klinger and Svensson 2015). It is easier than ever for people to socialize with like-minded individuals from the comfort of their own homes, forming social networks based on interest instead of location.

Danlu Yang, a PhD student in Anthropology at Oregon State University, sees the situation as a social movement that’s transcending borders. “The push to ban TikTok has ironically encouraged more Americans to engage directly with Chinese netizens,” she explained. “This is a positive development—it opens the door for both sides to recognize the limitations within their respective systems.” It is her last point about recognizing the limitations within the citizen’s systems that seems as if it would be the most relevant in the long-term, but the recognition of limitations didn’t seem to lead to any motivation to challenge those limitations. Well, most of them, anyway.

Dr. Lu brought up a unique limitation that actually was challenged: state regulation of the media. “Because of society, people don’t trust the government or media and want to find things on their own.” Because pushing these limits happened online, in a cheeky-but-legal manner, the “Red Note Migration” can be considered less of a social crisis and more of a type of entertainment. That entertainment is political—it’s long been suggested that social media makes civil engagement easier, and certainly the movement to Red Note successfully caught mainstream attention. But ease doesn’t translate to effectiveness. “We see that activities only happen online. Good engagement should have some offline reactions.” Social media may be effective for engagement, but Dr. Lu observes that it can be considered harmful in the sense that it reduces offline engagement.

Long-term Cultural Impacts

In an article titled “Teaching Global Social Media Through Ethnography,” J. M. Sinanan writes that images posted on social media are helpful for teaching youth about other cultures, making them aware of global concerns and inspiring political activism. “Students didn’t just ‘see examples’ of posts, but they were introduced to…the individuals who originated such perspectives” (Sinanan 2020, 44). This is a formal way of saying that social media shows off the everyday to everyone, everywhere, creating interpersonal connections between ordinary global citizens—not just representatives from different nation-states shaking hands. For example, Benni’s only post on Red Note was an invitation for people to follow her. She listed some of her interests and included cute pictures of animals. “I wanted to gain a community like on TikTok, even though I wasn’t really in TikTok communities.” 

She wasn’t the only American, though, and described at one point feeling frustrated at how some other #TikTokRefugees were behaving. “They were trying to turn it into TikTok and disrupt a pre-made community. Like we’re trying to Americanize this app.” There are countless creators on TikTok, and those who are able to make money off of the app do so by engaging with their followers. The immediate commodification of Red Note by American users trying to rapidly rebuild social and economic capital threatened the peer relations on the app, a kind of digital colonization.

Benni considers herself on the other end, as a new user who introduced themself as American and posted a “get to know me” to encourage engagement. Deliberately reaching out between nations, past borders, and among the people. Not for the sake of making money, but for the sake of making friends.

That ship has, for the most part, sailed. “The engagement peaks have passed,” Dr. Lu noted. “With so many interesting things happening on Chinese social media, no one’s attention stays in one place for long. For Chinese citizens, it was just one moment in their lives online.” She also doesn’t observe much difference in behavior from Americans. In the age of information, everything happens so fast.

Moving Forward (in Digital Place)

But that doesn’t mean it’s over. “Yeah, I still kinda use it here and there,” shared Benni. She’ll jump on, scroll a bit, like some posts, and check her DMs to revisit a conversation she had with a friend she’d made through the app, although they haven’t really kept in contact. Regardless of the political fears about the spread of anti-American sentiments, she was ultimately just looking for a place to belong. 

Despite the apparent lack of long-term political influence, Danlu, who also observed the Red Note Migration through the app, shared that she felt that the interactions between American and Chinese netizens have been surprisingly open and peaceful. “It’s commendable that average American users are venturing into a Chinese digital space, often navigating language and cultural barriers. Their presence is transforming the app into a more international platform, now featuring translation buttons and IP addresses from around the world. This grassroots exchange is a quiet but powerful gesture toward digital cosmopolitanism.” Even if things may not seem to have changed politically from an immediate standpoint, smaller cross-cultural interactions can be indicative of larger global cultural movements. Any “influence” from this event will likely be one part of a series of smaller actions, but that doesn’t make this one any less relevant.