Congressional leaders seem flummoxed by the growing popularity of Chinese-owned apps Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, an unintended consequence of the TikTok ban
The Chinese apps RedNote and Lemon8 have exploded in popularity as TikTok faces an imminent ban and the Supreme Court upheld the law forcing its sale. Bluesky: @harrymccracken.com , @pharmesq , @romitmehta.com , @drdoofenschmirtz , @drdoofenschmirtz , @mikemillennial , @ricyrick87 , and @masterplan15 Mastodon: @harrymccracken@mastodon … and @pixel@oldbytes.space X: @milkkarten and @dtrinh See also Mediagazer Bluesky: Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken.com : Maybe it's time to consider banning ALL apps? https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/ 18/tiktok-ban-china-rivals-congress- 00199083 Farm Dee / @pharmesq : Gee I wonder why tiktokers don't want to go to Meta/Xitter/Google platforms that already existed when they first made their choice, and have gotten objectively much more hostile since then. Such an unforeseen event. Pass the pepper. Romit Mehta / @romitmehta.com : Capitalism in practice. Free market and all. [embedded post] @drdoofenschmirtz : The average age of congressmen and senators plays into this way more than is being talked about. It's a discussion we need to have as a nation @drdoofenschmirtz : This is a great issue to run on against incumbents that voted for it. @mikemillennial : Ironically this is capitalism right? @ricyrick87 : I don't think they even understood what tiktok was (let alone how the internet works), or the breath of content it housed 😅 the fact that we have people who “represent” us but have no clue how the world works for “normies” is terrifying @masterplan15 : Congress is always flummoxed by what the US population does and thinks Mastodon: Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken@mastodon.social : Maybe it's time to consider banning ALL apps? https://www.politico.com/... Eric Vitiello / @pixel@oldbytes.space : @Techmeme of course it was unintended but surely it had to have been anticipated X: Rachel Karten / @milkkarten : the tiktok ban will be bad for the entire social media ecosystem, even the platforms we think will “benefit” from its disappearance. its discovery-focused algorithm acts as a feeder of followers, creators, and culture. other social media platforms rely on it more than we think. [image] Danny Trinh / @dtrinh : Most folks discussing the Tiktok ban aren't talking about CapCut going down. A ton of original short form video production on all platforms comes from CapCut — massive opportunity for so many in this space (like the gang at @getcaptionsapp!) See also Mediagazer Expand More For Next Unexpand More For Next