A look at the Chinese social e-commerce app and women-friendly “lifestyle bible” Xiaohongshu, which has 200M MAUs and critics describe as a consumerist trap
Known as China's “lifestyle bible,” the social media platform is an aspirational living guide or a consumerist trap. Tweets: @restofworld , @mikeelgan , @violazhouyi , @openbarllc , @violazhouyi , @restofworld , @mvzelenks , @cengizyar , @restofworld , and @anupkaphle Tweets: @restofworld : Founded in 2013 as a guide for wealthy, mostly female travelers looking for shopping recommendations, Xiaohongshu ("little red book") now has 200 million users, who take to the app to share tips on everything from dieting to dating to language learning https://restofworld.org/... Mike Elgan / @mikeelgan : Phrase of the moment: “how to buy the perfect life” https://restofworld.org/... Viola Zhou / @violazhouyi : Increasingly young Chinese (including myself) use social media not to talk about politics, social issues or celebrity gossip, but to find out what to buy. So Xiaohongshu is where we hang out. https://restofworld.org/... via @restofworld Jaime / @openbarllc : xiaohongshu be filling the void of womens magazines not dissimilar to their surge during postwar consumerist west + compression of instant e-commerce...is the ideal life more or less attainable for the economically liberated woman vs. the politically liberated woman... https://twitter.com/... Viola Zhou / @violazhouyi : Born as a Hong Kong shopping guide for affluent travelers, Xiaohongshu has evolved into a community for people to exchange tips on living the most bougie life in China. Fans use it as their primary search engine, critics call it a consumerist trap. https://restofworld.org/... @restofworld : For young Chinese women, Xiaohongshu has become the go-to guide on how to live better by buying more. Fans describe the app as a friendly community of people with shared aspirations; critics call it a consumerist trap New from @violazhouyi https://restofworld.org/... Michael Zelenko / @mvzelenks : “You feel excited and shaky. Your face burns,” she said. “It's what readers are supposed to feel when they read posts, like they are high on drugs.” Xiaohongshu is teaching young Chinese women how to buy the perfect life https://restofworld.org/... via @restofworld Cengiz / @cengizyar : “Information has become so abundant and diverse on Xiaohongshu that many users — young, affluent, urban, and predominantly female — use it as their primary search engine.” @violazhouyi writes for @restofworld https://restofworld.org/... @restofworld : When it came time to buy an engagement ring, “I was leaning towards Tiffany,” one 29-year-old in Beijing said. “But I changed my mind after reading the comments.” Xiaohongshu is showing young Chinese women how to live better, by buying more https://restofworld.org/... Anup Kaphle / @anupkaphle : Live better, buy more. Welcome to Xiaohongshu. Great reporting by @violazhouyi the social media platform that's become China's “lifestyle bible” — https://restofworld.org/...