I don't know, it just reminds me of when Musk bought twitter and ppl online (especially this site) were like "hahahahah it's gonna implode in a week loolololol" and guess what, twitter is still around and now Musk is even more politically powerful. It kind of reminds me of how ppl were hyping up mastadon, blue sky, etc. and honestly who really uses those sites?

There's also the language barrier, like are ppl actually gonna seriously try to learn Chinese? Just installing duolingo and maybe doing a two day streak is what I predict most people will do. Btw learning a language from duolingo is like learning about socialism from AOC, i.e. it's actually harmful.

I just see this as a media hype cycle that will die down in a week or two and it's frustrating that ppl who call themselves materialists are now putting their faith (ironic right?) into some magical app just because it's controlled by a Chinese company, etc. The same ppl who say that real agitation/organizing/etc. is done offline are now advocating for some pure online shit and honestly just basing it off pure vibes. Kinda cringe.

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[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You're giving a bunch of senile technologically illiterate boomers way too much credit. They're going to ban XHS because they'll Google translate XHS, see that it spits out "little red book," and have a kneejerk reaction in banning the site. They also recognize that a lot of their propaganda strategy hinges on people not knowing basic info on China.

There are smarter moves than just banning the site. The smartest move is to keep XHS and use it as a vector to spread US propaganda. Contact between two different parties is a dialectical relationship after all, and it's undialectical to think that only one party will be affected. I don't think it's that hard to cultivate Westophilia within XHS's userbase, but that strategy hinges on some cultural contact between the two countries, which I believe would be unacceptable to the boomers in charge. Another move they can play is to create trolls that ruin the site and push XHS to block US accounts, which allows the US to push out propaganda about how China fears US cultural exports.

[–] ProletarianDictator@hexbear.net 2 points 22 hours ago

The thing about this is that who is going to signup for XHS to be a lib? They have their home on Western social media.

Dialectics doesn't mean both parties are changed equally. Westerners are getting a completely new look into something they've never seen before. Chinese people are making some Western friends who voluntarily chose this site.

[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago

I remember when Google “left” China back in the early 2010s lol. These tech companies have been eyeing China for so long and have been waiting to make a come back. They already have the entire world’s market - China is the final frontier they have been itching to conquer.

Everyone is now just waiting for Trump to take office and see how he deals with China. As I have said elsewhere I expect a lot of tension being eased on both sides. I don’t know how much China is willing to compromise but I hope China can come out on top of the negotiations.