I think it was a 2023 stat, 170m monthly user in US, very significant population.
Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates
- Thread starter tankphobia
- Start date
Yes, I believe there is too much hype here surrounding these migrations to XHS. It's an amusing event, but not that significant.
In addition to what you wrote about the negligible percentage, young Americans who decided to sign up to XHS are either apolotical or with pre-existing China-friendly attitudes. It's not like China managed to convert millions who were previously hostile to China or anything like that.
If they sell TikTok I think a lot of people will leave the app for good.
Since when does majority of users care about ownership ?
5M on XHS will be reposting to US social media constantly. 5M red flag pilled, ideologically motivated keyboard warriors is highly valuable. It has been proven over and over again that hardened ideologically motivated volunteers are far stronger than mercs.
Only reddit is resistant to it so far, even on X they're shook.
Many of those 5 million people are enjoying the app and they’ll tell their friends about it. Some of those friends will download the app, enjoy it, and tell their friends about it. That’s how the user base will increase, slowly but surely.
Xiaohongshu won’t be as big as TikTok, but it’s already a huge win for China. The fact that most young Americans already have the name “Xiaohongshu” in their heads is already a huge win in itself.
They don't even have to be true believers ... many seem to be click baiters for views. I heard the exact same "this new friend i met on xhs to me... " many times. Which is one reason why i think TikTok has gone to the toilets, everyone is creating lazy crap/stolen/news content for views because of monetization in the us.
With the exception that I think the US would weaponize TikTok they way they claim China would, i wouldn't mind the split. The US keeps the garbage and bytedance goes on with a new international douyin hosting non political, interesting, and fun content.
The significance is not in the sheer number. It was the moment of shock and awe when the first person dared to pull the thick curtain to let in the light. Had Trump not paused the ban for TT to resume its service in less than 24 hours, there would have been more than 5 millions seeking asylum in XHS.
But as the saying goes in Chinese, 星星之火 可以燎原 (a few sparks can turn a whole valley into ashes). There ought to be more than just a few "sparks" in these 5 million TT refugees. There was even a young lady sharing her excitement about studying the 矛盾论 (On Contradiction, a work of Mao and a must read for all CPC members).
Many of the TT refugees were hardly "pro-China" when they came to XHS. Once they had the exchange with the Chinese people on XHS, they openly admitted that they had been fed anti-China propaganda by the US government and the western MSM for decades, and only realized how wrong they had been thinking of China and Chinese people.
Trump might have unintentionally slowed down the increase of TT refugees for now. But ironically, his intervention, at the cost of the rule of law, is allowing those awakened refugees to share their discoveries on TT to a broader audience, encouraging and convincing more TT users to take a look outside.
For those who decide to not stay on XHS, as long as they have learned to not accept anti-China propaganda without thinking about it critically, it is a win for China already.
In 1938, Mao wrote 论持久战 (On Protracted War) for those who were expecting an easy and quick win against Japan and those who were losing confidence in defeating the Japanese. Substituting the Japanese militarism with American Imperialism, and the war against Japanese aggression in China with the struggle against American hegemonism on the world stage, his line of thinking still stands today.
The burst of a great dam is significant so is the first crack on the dam even if the crack is a much less eye catching scene. And dams do not fail on the first crack.
Looks like China is dangling TikTok to Trump for something potentially on the scale of Taiwan or something similar. Trump is salivating at his ego being elevated by all of the gen Z giving him more props.
If China does allow it to be sold, Trump gets a temporary win, China gets prize X, then builds another TikTok, gen Z flock over and Trump gets left holding the bag. Probably not the worst that could happen.
Just look at how fast Trump changed his mind on placing tariffs on China. This guy would sell his own mother for a few dollars.
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The recent spate of successes have spoiled you guys. You realize how whinny some of you sound right now?