TikTok's imminent demise is pushing people to Red Note, another Chinese app, and the irony is just too rich

Date:
Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:57:45 +0000

Description:
TikTok's replacement is all red

Spend a few minutes on TikTok right now and you'll see that it's filled with goodbyes, heartfelt thank-yous, considerable anger at US politicians, and a
lot of chatter about something called Red Note.

Zero hour is fast approaching for TikTok, with the US Supreme Court set to deliver its ruling on whether or not the TikTok ban should be delayed or allowed to take effect on January 19, which happens to be the day before past and future President Donald Trump takes office. Trump has flip-flopped on the TikTok topic. After launching the call for a ban during his first administration he's fallen in deep like with the platform, and now signals
that he might want to save it , although if the ban happens it's not clear
how he can reverse it.

While the Supreme Court has yet to rule, most took the justice's comments during oral arguments as a sign that they were not on TikTok's side. There's been late word that TikTok's parent company, the China-based ByteDance, might agree to let Elon Musk of all people buy up TikTok. Since the company has characterized that report to Mobile World Live as "pure fiction," I'm betting that it's just a lot of wishful thinking on the part of Musk and X (formerly Twitter) fanboys.

Trust me, that won't happen.

What is happening, though, is that TikTok users building digital life rafts, and floating over to other platforms. Many creators already cross-post
content on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, but nothing feels quite like TikTok nothing, that is, except for Red Note.

[...]

While Red Note is obviously a workable solution for those who aren't ready to give up TikTok, it's also another Chinese app. Unlike TikTok, there's been no effort to Amercanize the platform, and there's been no effort to protect our data from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has access to the data of any company operating within its borders.

The irony is rich here, but I also think that's the point. Angry TikTok users who think the US Government is making a massive mistake are showing them just how quickly they can make an end run around these rules. Take away TikTok and they will not necessarily flood to American companies and their products,
i.e., Meta-owned Instagram Reels and Google-owned YouTube Shorts. Also,
let's pause for a second to consider the name: Red Note. The Chinese flag features five gold stars on an all-red background. Red is literally a
cultural symbol in China.

Red Note's rise as the current number one app (TikTok is now number 13) is especially comical because, unlike TikTok, there's nothing remotely American about this app or the company running it, Xingin. There's no US arm running operations, and no promise of US data protection on US servers. It's the CCP free-for-all US lawmakers feared in the case of TikTok.

FULL STORY AT: https://www.techradar.com/computing/social-media/tiktoks-imminent-demise-is-pu shing-people-to-red-note-another-chinese-app-and-the-irony-is-just-too-rich

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