TIkTok Users Are Downloading RedNote at Such High Level They Broke the App

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the TikTok ban is leading to some unintended consequences. Among those consequences is a surge of users to a Chinese video app called Xiaohongshu, or in English, RedNote. The app has gained a massive surge of American users in the past few days, even though one of the reasons TikTok was banned was because of concerns over Chinese meddling with the app.

Following this surge of users, though, some have noticed that the user experience in the app is not super smooth. One of the most major issues is related to whether RedNote actually sends users verification codes. Here's what we know.

Some users are finding that when they go to login to RedNote their accounts are totally locked up because the site requires a verification code, but is also not sending one. The reason for this, as frustrating as it might be, is that RedNote is overwhelmed with new users specifically from the U.S., and those users seem to be breaking the app and its functionality.

While you might be looking for some way to resolve this issue, it seems like the problem is with the app's capacity, and can't be resolved by individual users. The app was the most popular app downloaded in the U.S. in the Apple App Store on Jan. 14, suggesting that users are really worried about a potential ban and are already making backup plans in case they lose access to the platform.

TikTok users are apparently so desperate to recreate the experience of using the app that they have fled to a platform explicitly designed for Mandarin speakers. As a result, though, the app's new users are coming into contact with its existing population of Chinese users, and learning more about their lives and about how to use the app. The move might change RedNote's design, at least at some point down the line. In the interim, though, many users are happy to have a backup plan.

The grand irony of this move, of course, is that the whole reason TikTok is being banned is because of fears that the app will be influenced by the Chinese government, either to give them user data or release propaganda. While there is no solid public evidence to support either claim, it seems like the app's massive user base is not particularly worried about the threat of Chinese influence as long as they have somewhere to go.

“I don’t really care if I’m using a Chinese app at all,” one American TikTok user told The New York Times. “It’s like a place for me to escape reality. And if it’s making me feel good, I’m here for it.”

The American government can only protect its citizens so far. If they want to find their way onto Chinese social media sites, it seems like they will whether the U.S. government lets them or not.