Zoe

Healthcare strategist, sometimes food writer. Contact: [email protected]

[Zoe @jingtastic]

The irony cherry on top of course is that Rednote’s Chinese name (Little Red Book) is a direct reference to Mao

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

The Xiaohongshu #TikTokRefugee phenomenon is truly fascinating and really exciting if it perdures.

It would be the first time ever that we would have a social media app where Western and Chinese users interact at scale. Pretty ironic when this is spurred by an attempt by the U.S. government to get rid of TikTok because it is "Chinese" when it has no Chinese users nor Chinese content.

I've been testing the app 👇 and the phenomenon is real: a huge proportion of the posts in the main timeline are by "Tiktok refugees", with many posts being "refugees" asking questions to the Chinese user base.

The app is still missing some obvious features that would make it more usable to an international user base. You can have the app in English but it doesn't look like you can translate posts or videos yet. Which means that if you don't speak or read Chinese, you can only understand the posts that are in English (and vice-versa: no translation for English content into Chinese either). My bet is that the Xiaohongshu tech team in Shanghai (where Xiaohongshu is based) must already be working hard on this.

All in all this illustrates several important and actually quite hopeful lessons.

Firstly, this shapes up to be yet another U.S. attempt to contain China backfiring: instead of reducing Chinese tech influence, it's potentially creating an even more direct bridge between Chinese and Western users on a platform that's actually based in China, unlike TikTok which operates separately from its Chinese version Douyin.

Secondly, there's obviously significant untapped demand for genuine cross-cultural social media platforms, despite (or perhaps because of) the geopolitical tensions. Many people obviously do not want the digital iron curtain that the U.S. is trying to erect here: this is all happening organically without any promotional push from Xiaohongshu, people genuinely do not want an artificially divided world.

Lastly, less obvious but no less important, the business dimension is particularly interesting. Xiaohongshu isn't just another social media app - it's fundamentally an e-commerce platform where social features emerged organically around shopping.

If this trend continues, this has the potential to reshape cross-border commerce between China and the U.S. in really profound ways. Many "TikTok refugees" are actually small business owners who built their success on TikTok: imagine the potential of a platform that gives them direct access to Chinese consumers! This, alongside Chinese sellers finding new ways to reach American audiences, could create entirely new patterns of trade, bypassing traditional intermediaries.

This would be the icing on the cake with the other ironies: when governments are trying to 'de-risk' and decouple supply chains, Xiaohongshu could help the ground-level reality of ordinary entrepreneurs and consumers move in the exact opposite direction.

Anyhow, whether this phenomenon lasts or not, it reveals something that should give us all some measure of hope: while politicians and policymakers focus on trying to divide the world and fearmonger, ordinary people seem more interested in finding ways to connect. They're more interested in bridges than walls, and that's a good thing!

[Zoe @jingtastic]

I’m actually glad they’re this clueless

[The Associated Press @AP]

Israeli troops have besieged the last three functional hospitals in north Gaza, a new chapter in a conflict that has targeted hospitals with an intensity and overtness rarely seen in modern warfare. The AP spent months collecting their stories. https://t.co/ftPrkO02J1

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@johnnyfbowman Delete this

[Lawrence Zhang 張樂翔 @HistorianZhang]

Oh this cheese photo is good

[Younis Tirawi | يونس @ytirawi]

Israeli MK and Likud Official Tali Gottlieb have a message to the US:

“The US is threatening not to give us precise missiles . Oh yeah? Well, I got news for the US. We have imprecise missiles. I’ll use it. I’ll just collapse ten [in Gaza]. Ten buildings. That’s what I’ll do”

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@wwsalmon @pomonacollege

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@NationalSJP @pomonacollege

[Zoe @jingtastic]

My superpower is spotting evil from miles away 🤷‍♀️

[Johnny Bowman @johnnyfbowman]

The sound of my girlfriend's "I told you so" is deafening.

[Verso Books @VersoBooks]

We have collated free resources that offer a clear history of the occupation, Israel's military industrial complex, and this latest explosion of violence in Gaza.

This includes 6 free ebooks:

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@britishmuseum So then you should probably never exhibit anything Asian and return everything back to the countries you stole them from…

[Zoe @jingtastic]

This is true and completely foreseeable because it’s cyclical. Just read Caliban and the Witch, which describes what happens to labor after a pandemic

[hot chocolate @thejanaymichele]

I heavily believe these mass layoffs have nothing to do with the economy and all to do with taking back the power once held by employees. Now they can offer lower wages for new positions, require more from employees and dangle the fear of imminent job loss over their heads

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@MarkLevineNYC And this is a straw man

[eve andrews @eefandrews]

today! this gorgeous reported essay from @jingtastic -- no one writes food and landscape so beautifully, imho. treat yourself and read it. https://t.co/W9DexsWORy

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@theluketsai I love that place!!

[Zoe @jingtastic]

The eclipse is beautiful and I’d rather think of it as a way of seeing mirrored light that’s too bright to look at directly

[Chani Nicholas @chaninicholas]

unsolicited opinion: do not go look at the eclipse.

[Zhang Meifang @CGMeifangZhang]

Introducing Papa, one of the most popular stray cats living in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Our feline friend is easily recognizable for its plump but agile orange-colored body. Make sure you to say hello when you visit the Forbidden City! #PalaceMuseum #ForbiddenCity #Beijing

[Zoe @jingtastic]

Not JBF nominating David Chang for an award at the exact same time…

[Zoe @jingtastic]

@picklenthusiast @monaeatsLA I do! Pinned here: https://t.co/t35JmgYBDU

[Zoe @jingtastic]

This is the same as white liberals joking about moving to Canada when they lose elections and the same as white liberals wondering why trans kids can’t just leave Texas and it just comes down to white liberals being homeless hungry ghosts