Seven years of companionship: as an old user of RedNote, I want to recommend it to the world
“Share, Connect, Love”
After TikTok was banned in the United States, a chaotic but interesting phenomenon emerged – overnight, a large number of American users flocked to another Chinese application called Xiao Hong Shu, also known as “RedNote.” This app previously had 300 million users, the vast majority of whom were Chinese. Including me, I started using this app in 2018, which is now seven years ago. It is worth noting that the term “TikTok Refugee” has now received more than 500 million views and 8.3 million discussions. It seems that everyone is complaining in this way.
However, as the original users interact with the newcomers, a consensus has gradually emerged: here, we don’t talk about politics, we just get along and share happily.
So today, I just want to introduce this app to everyone as an “old user,” explaining its features, how to use it, and how to have fun on RedNote.
What exactly is RedNote?
The Chinese name of RedNote is called “Xiao Hong Shu”. As the official product slogan given by Xiaohongshu says, “Your Guide to Life,” it is no exaggeration to say that it has now become a new Wikipedia for young people. You can find almost everything on it, the answer to any question you want to find in your daily life. From daily life to travel, from academics to job hunting guides, from beauty and fashion to food making tutorials…there is nothing you can’t find if you can think of it.
The content is presented in various forms, including pictures, pictures and text, and videos. They are all published from user accounts, and everyone is a content creator.
Not just an alternative, but more unique
If you ask me what makes it unique？
：Where there are Chinese people, there are people sharing tips!
Renting a house, keeping pets, finding restaurants, fixing things… You can even search for airport wifi or the Starbucks bathroom password. (If you need it)
Meet with the funniest people
On RedNote, you can meet a large group of funny people in the comment section of the post. The group of young Chinese people has taken the function of memes and emoticons to the extreme, which has obviously become a way of communicating in the comment section.
Chinese people use RedNote’s traditional ways to show friendship, such as some inexplicable sense of humor.
One comment from an American user goes like this: “I once translated a comment on my post, and it said, ‘If an American tries to translate this comment, it will just make no sense.’”
And there’s the recent craze of “Cat Tax.” Chinese internet users say that if you come to it, you need to pay the “cat tax.” But this just means that you need to post some pictures of your cats.
They’re just being friendly in this way.
Female user extremely friendly
Coming to a app where 85% of the users are from one country means that you will inevitably find some cultural differences that may be difficult to understand.
One notable one is that RedNote has a majority female user base and is a female-dominated app. RedNote has the tradition of calling each other “sis” instead of “bro”. It’s just because there are more girls by default, so the beginning is “sisters”.
On RedNote, you can definitely feel the most sincere goodwill and tolerance from women all over the world.
Next, I will carefully explore and introduce the RedNote page.
How To Use?
Prepare and set up
First, you need to have a RedNote. This is easy, as it is available for free download. If you are a apple user, just download it from app store; and if you are an Android user, you can find it from Google Play.
Language problem? No worries! The programmers at Xiaohongshu have worked overtime just to fully integrate English into the app. You will have a hassle-free reading experience.
Next, you can register by following these steps
- Open the app and you can choose to register with your mobile phone number, mobile phone account (if you are an Apple user), or a social media account like WeChat. For international users, I would recommend registering with your mobile phone number, which is the most convenient way.
- Next, the page will guide you to choose the topics you are interested in among countless options. The algorithm will then push relevant content to you in the future. If you find this troublesome, you can also simply select skip in the upper right corner.
- Congratulations, you have entered the main page! Next, set a unique username and profile picture for yourself, edit and improve your profile, and you can immerse yourself in the experience
Explore the diverse content
- HOMEPAGE: When you open the homepage, it will display the “Explore”. The explore area recommends content based on your interests, including but not limit to exquisite outfit photos, creative short videos, and practical life hacks…. It’s really hard to completely introduce all the different contents, so it’s waiting for you to explore!
- Try the “Searching” bar! As I just mentioned before, you can search for tips from all over the world.
- You can directly follow interested bloggers, like, save, and comment on your favorite content. All saved content can be found on your personal page.
Below is an introduction to the complete RedNote usage system. The pictures were created by a blogger “Shanghai Fun Guide”.
Record and share your life
RedNote is not only a platform for consuming content, but also a space for recording and sharing your life.
Here are some tips for sharing content
1. Short videos or pictures: If you want to show your daily life, then do it! Or if you think of any topic you want to share with others, you can directly share it in the form of text + pictures.
You could just use English, RedNote now has a one-click translation function. Or using some translator generated Chinese will be more than welcome! We still can easily understand what you want to express.
2. Write valuable notes: Just like any digital social media platforms, it makes sense to have a purpose. If you share notes with practical content, it may attract more attention. For example, you can share a strategy on how to match winter clothes, or your travel experience in a certain city.
3. Use hashtags: add related tags (such as #outfit inspiration #travel diary) when posting content to allow more people to find your content. You could choose some brand created hashtag to attract their attention, or platform created hot topic hashtag. To some extent it may could increase your post traffic.
Why I highly recommend RedNote？
In addition to all the usefulness and fun of RedNote that I mentioned earlier, the rise of it in the United States is much more than just finding an alternative to TikTok. It is an opportunity for cultural exchange. Here, users see an authentic and vibrant world through sharing their lives and stories with each other. In a simple but profound way, we have re-established connections.
For a long time, many perceptions of China have been simplified or distorted. But through RedNote, people can see the enthusiasm, openness, creativity and curiosity about the world of young generation. Whether it’s sharing a short video of street food or recording outfit inspiration from a music festival, every small story is slowly but surely changing those fixed prejudices.
We should not all live in a closed environment, relying on a single source of information to understand each other. Xiaohongshu makes me believe that when people around the world share, understand and empathize with each other, we will discover that we are actually connected by so many common emotions and dreams.
Download and try it! After all, it’s completely free!
Apple user download: App Store
Android user download: Google Play
Layla Yan 
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