When news of the TikTok ban going into effect on Jan. 19, 2025 in the United States began to circulate, American users initially dismissed it as a bluff. However, after several court appearances between TikTok and Congress, it became evident that the ban was real. Many users were disheartened, as they relied on the app for supplementary income, and for some, it was their sole means of livelihood.
Initially, there was confusion about whether users could still access TikTok. Some believed that using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) would allow them to bypass the ban. However, this hope was shattered when the Supreme Court ruled that TikTok posed a national security threat, and TikTok announced it would shut down its U.S. servers, rendering both the app and VPNs useless.
In protest, users began to express their frustration, with trends like “I will miss my Chinese spy”, “My streak”, “My Shaylla” and “Since we are all gonna die, there is one more secret I have to share with you, I did not care for the Godfather (a scene from the show Family Guy).” Some even held a funeral for the app.
Users collectively decided to migrate to another Chinese-controlled app as a form of rebellion. They initially tried Lemon8 but soon rejected it due to its interface. Instagram was also shunned because users felt its algorithm was not as accurate as TikTok’s and it did not pay users based on video views and engagement.
All Meta apps were opposed, as users believed that Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta, was lobbying Congress and senators to ban TikTok due to competition, not because it was a threat. They questioned why other Chinese apps, such as AliExpress, Temu and Shein, were not banned despite collecting users’ banking information. Users also believed the ban was an attempt to limit freedom of speech, as Chinese-owned apps did not censor posts and comments like Meta apps and X (formerly Twitter).
Ultimately, users settled on 小红书, also known as REDnote or Xiaohongshu, which they referred to as the “Chinese version of TikTok.” This app is fully owned and controlled in China, and its terms and conditions are written in Mandarin. Users accepted these terms without reading them and joked about wanting their “Chinese spy” to get a raise by using their social security numbers as usernames. On this app, they interacted with Chinese users without censorship, unlike TikTok, which is banned in China.
TikTok went dark on Saturday, Jan. 18 between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and a lot of users migrated to REDnote immediately and some from other countries followed. The videos began with introductions from Chinese users who welcomed the Americans and called them “TikTok refugees.” They exchanged cat videos, and a cat tax was jokingly imposed, requiring TikTok refugees to post a cute picture of their cats or pet(s) as an introduction. This was followed by American and Chinese citizens sharing their economic situations and comparing their experiences.
Twelve hours after the app went dark, TikTok was back online, leading to conspiracy theories. Some users speculated that Meta had bought the app because Meta created an account on TikTok a few hours before the ban, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew changed his bio from “CEO of TikTok” to just “TikTok.” Users also noticed Instagram ads on TikTok.
A few Lake Land Students shared their experience during the twelve hours.
Mulowa Musonda, a student worker for Student Life, said, “I watch TikTok before bed, so the ban disrupted my nighttime habits.”
Kailyn Tracy, copy editor for The Navigator News said, “I found myself using Instagram in the morning, which I don’t usually do. No other app truly matches the TikTok experience.”
Natasha Mtonga, an international student from Zambia said, “I kept checking my phone, hoping TikTok would start working again since I rely on it for entertainment and news updates and prefer it over traditional news.”
American users who still use the REDnote app are saying that TikTok is not the same as it was before the ban. They claimed something about the app is off. However, they also cannot put their finger on what is specifically wrong. They likened REDnote to a mini vacation in a cabin in the woods after living in a big city, the big city being TikTok. As of now, users are still speculating, and nothing is official yet, but they seem to be taking it slow.
