Within days, TikTok could be banned in the US, making the app unusable and removed from app stores. Instead of making do with Instagram Reels, people looked for a closer alternative and found the Chinese social media app “RedNote”, or Xiaohongshu, which means “little red book”. The service shot to the top of the Apple App Store’s download list, with more than 700,000 users joining the service within just two days, according to Reuters. But apparently RedNote isn’t the only app to benefit from TikTok’s impending ban. Language learning app Duolingo revealed that the number of new Chinese (Mandarin) learners in the United States has increased by 216 percent compared to this time last year.
Although RedNote’s interface is in English, most of the content is in Chinese, and US users would probably like to be able to interact with more videos. As TechCrunch points out, a chart posted by Duolingo clearly shows a huge increase in new learners at the same time as RedNote’s popularity skyrocketed. On TikTok, Duolingo posted the video with the hashtags #rednote and #tiktokban. In one video, a person wearing a green owl mask, the app’s mascot, teaches Chinese to beginners, starting with “Welcome, TikTok refugees.”
Meanwhile, RedNote’s original Chinese users are taking language lessons from the app’s American imports. They’re now learning Alpha American slang and TikTok trends, like “my shayla” and “Raw. Next question.” Chinese users are having fun, too, calling new users “Chinese spies” and jokingly demanding data to be provided to the Chinese government.
TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, must sell the app’s U.S. assets by January 19 to prevent closure.
