AsianFin -- Amid preparations for a potential TikTok ban in the U.S., interest in learning Chinese on Duolingo has spiked dramatically, with a reported 216% increase in users. The surge coincides with a significant shift of TikTok’s U.S. audience to the Chinese social app RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu).

The impending ban, set to take effect on January 19 unless overturned by the Supreme Court, would see TikTok removed from U.S. app stores and rendered nonfunctional without the use of a VPN. Instead of attempting to bypass the ban, many of TikTok’s 700 million users have transitioned to RedNote, highlighting a growing cultural exchange between U.S. and Chinese users. This shift has even led to unique collaborations, such as American users assisting Chinese users with English homework.

Despite technical challenges during sign-ups and some users being flagged for community violations, the migration to another Chinese-owned platform underscores a message to both the U.S. government and competitors like Meta: there is a strong demand for the distinctive social networking experiences pioneered by Chinese apps, which U.S. firms have struggled to replicate.

This trend also raises questions about whether U.S. users are genuinely concerned about data privacy, the central issue that prompted the TikTok ban. The move to RedNote serves as an unexpected test of public sentiment regarding Chinese companies' handling of personal information.