TikTok Alternatives & Cross-Cultural Connections

After four years of TikTok being under scrutiny following Donald Trump’s initial attempts to ban it in 2020, ByteDance voluntarily removed the app from app stores in the United States on January 18, 2025 for less than a day. In that time, a large number of users referring to themselves as “TikTok refugees” migrated to the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, which means “Little Red Book” but is often referred to as “RedNote” by American users. While the ongoing “to ban or not to ban” situation with TikTok is certainly bizarre, the experience of popular social media platforms making drastic changes such as Facebook rolling back its fact-checking and protections against hate speech, completely rebranding following a change in leadership such as with Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now X, or shutting down completely as was the case with Vine, reveals that these platforms and its users are in a constant state of flux. All users are affected by these changes, and with Vine in particular, creatives of color who made the app what it was were left to figure out where to go from here.

So what do we learn from this?

The Importance of Alternative Platforms

Creators who had built their career around Vine were not only left without their source of income, but the community they had built through the app. They had been able to use their platform to perform and speak out to an audience that they lost when Vine was shut down, and while it’s not impossible to rebuild on a new platform, it is certainly a challenge. Now, with TikTok’s future in jeopardy, the same threat looms over not only content creators, but individuals who use TikTok to promote activism, education, and information to a global audience. Reading the signs from TikTok and other platforms, users have already begun to seek out and build up alternatives such as Bluesky, Mastadon, MeWe, and countless others. Building new spaces and cultivating communities in response to the instability and lack of accountability surrounding the handling of user privacy and protections with larger social media platforms is one meaningful way to take your power and privacy back.

“Letters from Li Hua” and the Power of Cross-Cultural Connection

One popular TikTok alternative that has become a refuge for those seeking out a space similar to TikTok is Xiaohongshu, or “RedNote”, and while the app itself has already demonstrated concerning censorship, there have been some incredible moments of connection happening between American and Chinese users of the app. An American user from Texas said “it’s challenged my worldview”, with others sharing similar sentiments as they have conversations with folks on the other side of the world. People are even bonding over childhood experiences of trying to dig holes to reach other and writing letters to a fictional character named “Li Hua”, “a name commonly used in Chinese middle school English exams”. Chinese students would write letters to Li Hua, and the American users on RedNote are now offering them heartfelt replies.

Communication is Vital

While the future of TikTok is uncertain, the events surrounding its temporary removal have highlighted some very significant things about the role of social media as not just a tool for content creation and entertainment, but as a means of building communities and reaching across cultural divides. Ensuring that the individuals that currently make decisions for these platforms and the privacy and protections of the users on them is important to keep these spaces safe, accessible, and inclusive for everyone. And if the platform fails in its responsibility to its users, we can build an alternative space together.

Build Anti-Racist Communities with ARCC

To stay up to date with ARCC’s events and ongoing efforts to combat racism and other forms of hate through addressing ignorance and promoting personal transformation, subscribe to ARCC’s newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and more!

For Peace and Love,
Ash