In the days leading up to the January 19 deadline for TikTok, users in the U.S. scrambled to find alternatives. But instead of YouTube, X, or Instagram, the so-called TikTok refugees flocked to Chinese apps such as XiaohongshuXiaohongshuXiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book” in Chinese, is a lifestyle e-commerce and social media platform.READ MORE, and another ByteDance product, Lemon8, which uses a recommendation algorithm similar to that of TikTok.
In trying out Chinese apps as a form of protest — language barrier be damned — many of TikTok’s 170 million American users discovered the same features that had made TikTok so appealing: an infinite scroll of hyper-targeted recommendations, and interactions with friendly strangers. Xiaohongshu, one of China’s most popular lifestyle social networks, quickly became the most downloaded app on Apple’s U.S. App Store, followed by Lemon8.
A key driver behind the success of Chinese apps is that they have integrated e-commerce into their platforms, blending entertainment and networking with sales to monetize their famously addictive algorithms, according to Chinese social media experts and marketing firms. The platforms also continually surface fresh, engaging content, not only fueling binge-watching but also exposing users to new trends and shopping opportunities.
“Western apps are going to be playing catch-up for a very long time, no matter what happens to TikTok.”
“TikTok’s algorithm is so good and so influential that it became a very powerful social media platform that attracted a lot of people,” Mandy Hu, director of the Centre for Consumer Insights and associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Rest of World. “[Their e-commerce] business model was a way to cash in on the popularity.”
All of China’s major social platforms have a component of shopping built into them, known in the industry as shoppertainment or social commerce. Xiaohongshu was launched in 2013 as a guide for Chinese travellers looking for shopping recommendations. The model has delivered: In 2023, TikTok’s Chinese sister app, Douyin, said its platform sales exceeded 2 trillion yuan ($2 billion). Xiaohongshu doesn’t disclose detailed figures, but the app’s aggressive expansion into social commerce in 2023 coincided with the first year it turned a net profit to the tune of $500 million.
At the same time, social networking is built into the most popular Chinese online shopping platforms, like Taobao, Tmall, and JD.com. They feature livestreamed videos of shopping influencers, and robust chat and photo-sharing functions, blurring the lines between social media and e-commerce.
With algorithms designed to spark impulse buys among wide swathes of users, China has become the global leader in social commerce, with nearly half the respondents in a 2024 McKinsey survey reporting they’d recently made purchases directly through social media apps.
Western social networks, on the other hand, remain focused on advertising revenue, and their algorithms tend to prioritize accounts that users have opted to follow, MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at YPulse, a New York-based research firm that studies consumer trends among young people, told Rest of World.
TikTok’s powerful search function and For You recommendation algorithm surfaced videos on anything that was trending, creating a heightened discovery experience, Bliss said. “It is kind of ironic considering [concerns about Chinese government influence], but truly, it democratized content in a way that no other app had.”
Although TikTok only launched TikTok Shop in 2023, American users’ social commerce content helped boost ByteDance’s non-China revenue by 60% last year, despite regulatory pressures. Last year, TikTok said it topped $100 million in Black Friday shopping revenue in the U.S.
Without a ban, TikTok could one day rival Amazon, Ryan Broderick, a tech journalist and commentator, told Rest of World.
“Overwhelmingly, Chinese social apps are competing with traditional e-commerce platforms,” he said. “The fact that U.S. lawmakers aren’t talking about this signals that Western apps are going to be playing catch-up for a very long time, no matter what happens to TikTok.”
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Western platforms have tried to mimic some of TikTok’s functionality, such as through Instagram Reels, but have been criticized for issues that include an alleged lack of authenticity, Brett Dashevsky, founder of Creator Economy NYC, a networking group for online creators, told Rest of World.
“Instagram feels like a stage where everyone’s watching and judging. But TikTok felt like a casual hangout where you could just be yourself,” Dashevsky said. “On Instagram, the algorithm amplifies your content to your followers — friends, family, and everyone you know — making [posting] feel more like a statement.”
“But on TikTok, the algorithm throws your content into the mix for anyone to see,” he said. “Your content stood on its own, and if it flopped, it just disappeared. No grid, no pressure. Just vibes.”
Many TikTok users have posted videos in recent days bashing Western media platforms. “I love TikTok, it doesn’t typically criticize what [people] look like, where they’re coming from. They want to know what you’re saying. It’s an actual community,” user Jason Finds said.
The prospect of a TikTok ban still looms, as lawmakers have doubled down. A ban would have far-reaching legal implications for other Chinese platforms, Milton Mueller, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder of the Internet Governance Project, told Rest of World. Lemon8 could be subject to the same ban because it is owned by ByteDance, and the legislation could cover multiple companies and entities, potentially creating a “Great Firewall of the United States” over time, he said.
“The logic of this ban is indeed a slippery slope,” said Mueller, adding that it could extend not only to Xiaohongshu but also to any Chinese newspaper or website seen to be influenced by Beijing.
Could Western companies emulate Chinese apps’ approach to shoppertainment? Meta tried, then backed off, closing down a shopping function for Instagram in early 2023, and said it was focusing on AI services. E-commerce platforms like Amazon have not been able to successfully integrate social content. YouTube has explored shopping features in some regions, recently tying up with an e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
There are also political factors in play. In China, the government encourages consumer spending through online platforms as it promotes their importance as an economic engine, while in the West, social media companies face relatively more regulatory scrutiny for designing algorithms to be addictive, or showing potentially harmful content.
“I think it’s just a matter of priorities,” Broderick said. “American social platforms were born as extensions of our TV or newspaper industries. Chinese tech platforms seem much more influenced by e-commerce. They’re playing different games.”