RedNote has enlisted US influencers to promote the app amid uncertainty over a TikTok ban

As the future of TikTok Hanging in the balanceXiaohonghshu, known as RedNote in English, is trying to take advantage of this Its new popularity By partnering with American influencers who can help promote the company and bring more Americans to its platform. The Chinese lifestyle and travel app, which has more than 300 million monthly active users, rose to the top of US app store charts last week with TikTok banned. Come closer.

In a summary of the campaign obtained by WIRED, Solare Global, a New York City-based marketing agency, encouraged content creators to create sponsored posts for RedNote, which feature videos of themselves telling their followers about the Chinese app’s sudden rise in the United States. The brief asked creators to describe “how fun and engaging the app is” and “emphasize its user-friendly design and international appeal.” I also directed them to share their RedNote accounts and encourage their followers to join them on the platform.

Xiaohongshu did not respond to a request for comment sent to its official WeChat account. Solare Global also did not respond to a request for comment asking how many influencers they have contacted or how much the company expects to pay per post.

The brief seen by WIRED asked creators to shift their videos on a 24-hour timeline to ensure they would appear by January 17. Same day The Supreme Court was to decide whether the TikTok ban would take effect two days later. It also stipulates that influencers must leave their videos up for at least six months.

Xiaohongshu was founded in 2013 and has long focused mostly on courting local audiences in China, especially young women living in major cities. Like TikTok, it revolves around a central algorithm that recommends an endless stream of posts to users based on their interests and behavior. But instead of showing people one video at a time, Xiaohongshu presents photo slideshows, text posts, and videos in a grid format.

But perhaps the biggest difference between the two apps is how they handle content moderation. Since it is available in China, Xiaohongshu has to adhere to strict censorship rules dictated by Beijing. (Wired I mentioned previously Xiaohongshu has been striving to hire English-speaking moderators to help manage the flow of content posted by Americans.) TikTok, on the other hand, is not available in China. Its parent company, ByteDance, operates Separate video application There is called Duane.

The influx of Americans on Xiaohongshu has provided a rare opportunity for people in the United States and China to connect on a common social media platform. Some users spent hours asking their new overseas friends questions about their countries and cultures, from what a school lunch looks like in Wisconsin to what a typical apartment in Chengdu looks like. It now appears that Xiaohongshu is trying to capitalize on these sentiments to promote itself as a positive global platform.

“The warmth of ordinary people being kind and curious about each other is the underlying sentiment of the moment,” the influencer brief said. “And we think it’s a beautiful thing.”