Xiaohongshu

RedNote is a place to share.

People use it to talk about shopping. They share notes about what they buy. This helps others plan their trips.

Many people use the app. Most users are women. Many are young people too.

In 2025, many new people joined. They came from the United States. They wanted a new place to find friends.

It is a big community for everyone.

Xiaohongshu is a social media app from China. Many people call it RedNote.

Users share "notes." These are posts with text, photos, or short videos. People use these notes to talk about shopping and travel. Some users call this "grass-planting." This means they recommend a product to others. It helps people find things they might want to buy.

Many people use the app. About 70% of users were born after 1990. Most users are women. In 2021, women made up 90% of the users. The company later worked to attract more men. By 2022, 30% of users were men.

In early 2025, many people from the United States joined the app. They moved to Xiaohongshu because of rules involving TikTok. Over 700,000 new U.S. users joined in just two days.

The app also works like a search engine. In 2024, it had almost 600 million daily searches. It uses an AI tool called Diandian to help people find content. The company makes money through ads from many brands. In 2023, the company made a $500 million profit.

Xiaohongshu is a popular social networking and shopping platform from China. Many people now know it by its English name, RedNote. It acts like a digital guide for lifestyle topics like fashion, beauty, and travel. Users create "notes," which are posts that mix text, images, and short videos. These notes help people discover new products and share their own experiences. Because it helps people find things to buy, some call it a "National Lifestyle Guide."

The app works by connecting people through shared interests. When a user shares a helpful recommendation, they are often "grass-planting." This is a slang term for suggesting a product to others. This sharing creates a cycle of discovery and social commerce. The app also works like a search engine for lifestyle questions. In late 2024, the platform saw almost 600 million daily searches. To help with this, they introduced Diandian, an AI-powered tool for finding content.

Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao founded Xiaohongshu in 2013. At first, it was a guide for Chinese tourists to shop overseas. The name Xiaohongshu was inspired by red colors at Stanford and Bain & Company. In 2015, the company began setting up warehouses in Shenzhen and Zhengzhou. By 2017, a shopping festival on the app saw sales exceed CN¥100 million in just two hours. The company has grown very quickly since those early days.

Xiaohongshu has many impressive numbers behind its success. In 2023, the company reached a profit of $500 million. By 2024, its value was estimated at around $17 billion. Most users are quite young, with 70% born after 1990. While many users are women, the app has worked to attract more men. By 2022, men made up 30% of the user base. In January 2025, the app saw over 700,000 new users from the U.S. join in only two days.

You might recognize the way Xiaohongshu works if you use other social apps. It shares many features with Instagram, but with a bigger focus on shopping. It is also similar to search engines like Baidu, but for lifestyle topics. The app uses advertising from brands like cosmetics to make money. It also uses influencers to show how products work in real life. This mix of social media and shopping makes it a unique digital space.

Xiaohongshu is a major Chinese social networking and e-commerce platform. Many international users now recognize it by its English name, RedNote. The platform functions by combining user-generated content with social commerce features. Users create "notes," which are posts that blend text, images, and short videos. These notes allow people to discover new products and share personal experiences. Because it serves as a guide for lifestyle topics, it is often called a "National Lifestyle Guide."

The platform operates through a specific cycle of discovery and recommendation. A key part of this process is called "grass-planting." This is a slang term for when a user shares and recommends a product to others. These recommendations help users plan trips or find specific goods. This creates a system where influencers and regular users encourage others to make purchases. The platform also acts as a modern search engine for lifestyle information. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Xiaohongshu recorded nearly 600 million daily search queries. To improve this discovery process, the company introduced Diandian, an AI-powered search tool.

Xiaohongshu has several distinct functional parts that drive its business model. First, it relies on advertising and marketing services from consumer brands. These brands often include cosmetics and various lifestyle products. Second, it uses social commerce, which connects social interaction directly to shopping. Users often find recommendations on the app but may complete their purchases on other marketplaces like Taobao or Tmall. Third, the company manages international logistics services for third-party merchants. This helps move goods to customers efficiently. By combining these parts, the platform maintains high user engagement.

The history of the company began in 2013. Founders Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao originally created it as an online tour guide. It helped Chinese shoppers find information while traveling overseas. The name Xiaohongshu was inspired by the color red used at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Bain & Company. In 2015, the company expanded by setting up warehouses in Shenzhen and Zhengzhou. By June 2017, a shopping festival on the app generated over CN¥100 million in sales in just two hours. Since then, the company has seen massive financial growth.

Financial figures show how much the platform has scaled over the years. In 2018, investments from Alibaba Group and Tencent valued the company at $3 billion. By 2023, Sequoia China purchased shares at a $14 billion valuation. Further sales in July 2024 placed the company's value at approximately $17 billion. The company achieved profitability in 2023, reporting a net profit of $500 million on revenues of $3.7 billion. Its quarterly sales in the first quarter of 2024 exceeded $1 billion. These numbers highlight its position as a major player in the digital economy.

User demographics and recent global shifts provide interesting insights into its reach. About 70% of the platform's users were born after 1990. Nearly 70% of the user base is female, though the company has worked to attract more men. By 2022, men made up 30% of the users. In January 2025, the app experienced a sudden influx of American users. This happened because of the anticipated shutdown of TikTok's U.S. operations. During a two-day period, over 700,000 new U.S. users joined the platform. This event was described by some as a migration of "TikTok refugees."

Maintaining the platform involves complex systems for content moderation and community standards. Xiaohongshu uses a combination of algorithms and human checks to manage content. In 2021, the company faced criticism regarding the authenticity of travel photos. Some influencers posted "overly beautified" images that did not match reality. In response, Xiaohongshu formed a team to identify and remove fraudulent content. They have since banned 81 brands and deleted 172,600 fake reviews. The company also takes legal action against companies that engage in "click farming" or fake reviews. This helps ensure the platform remains a trusted source for its millions of users.