Taiwan’s recent decision to block Red Note turned into a textbook case of the forbidden fruit effect, where what is restricted instantly becomes more desirable.
Superb analysis of how the forbidden fruit dynamic plays out differntly across platforms. The key insight about Red Note being politically safer to ban than TikTok because it's less tied to electoral mobilization is spot on. What really stood out was the observation about bottom-up intimacy being harder to govern than top-down propaganda. Those organic cultural exchanges around dating norms or slang adoption create affinity networks that no policy framework knows how to address, especially when the platform sits outside jurisdiction.
Put your hands up for Peiyue! It's the whole idea of "spreadable media," and the mix of top-down and bottom-up forces on these social media platforms just means that content shared across and among cultures will be more participatory (think comments, co-creation of meaning) and messier to be managed.
I wonder if the Taiwanese government (or specifically the DPP) have ever thought about the possibility that Taiwan's culture is also influential and attractive to those on the other side, and that interactions on places like Red Note also helps Taiwan accumulate much needed good will among ordinary Chinese people.
Sadly RedNote is still a bit inconsistently stringent when it comes to TW and HK. I've seen multiple streamers/chatrooms get warned for even saying the location names/nicknames (e.g. a post about "Wawa Island" got removed). From what I did see, there are few posts about cross-strait politics. I did see an interesting example of a Mainlander speaking to Americans telling them to chill on the independence rhetoric considering the US did reunification on a much larger (and arguably not as peaceful) scale in the 1860s.
Rules are definitely an enigma, but sometimes the heavy moderation (or censorship depending on perspective) is a welcome break from the lies, slop, and hate coming from the rest of the internet. For me having a double edged sword is better than having no shield.
I almost never see political content on rednote. Sure hope it stays that way (whether because of censorship or not) as it's the only window I'm aware for the Chinese and non-Chinese to interact without a VPN
You've definitely done well massaging your algorithm. About half my feed is political, most of it Chinese users posting about US politics or Chinese emigres expressing how US politics affect them. Some even use Trump's rants as "native-level" English lessons hahahahahaha
Superb analysis of how the forbidden fruit dynamic plays out differntly across platforms. The key insight about Red Note being politically safer to ban than TikTok because it's less tied to electoral mobilization is spot on. What really stood out was the observation about bottom-up intimacy being harder to govern than top-down propaganda. Those organic cultural exchanges around dating norms or slang adoption create affinity networks that no policy framework knows how to address, especially when the platform sits outside jurisdiction.
Put your hands up for Peiyue! It's the whole idea of "spreadable media," and the mix of top-down and bottom-up forces on these social media platforms just means that content shared across and among cultures will be more participatory (think comments, co-creation of meaning) and messier to be managed.
It's the Streisand effect in action.
I wonder if the Taiwanese government (or specifically the DPP) have ever thought about the possibility that Taiwan's culture is also influential and attractive to those on the other side, and that interactions on places like Red Note also helps Taiwan accumulate much needed good will among ordinary Chinese people.
That's a great point, and I do see Taiwanese influencers on Red Note. The cultural exchange goes both ways.
Sadly RedNote is still a bit inconsistently stringent when it comes to TW and HK. I've seen multiple streamers/chatrooms get warned for even saying the location names/nicknames (e.g. a post about "Wawa Island" got removed). From what I did see, there are few posts about cross-strait politics. I did see an interesting example of a Mainlander speaking to Americans telling them to chill on the independence rhetoric considering the US did reunification on a much larger (and arguably not as peaceful) scale in the 1860s.
Wow. Red Note shadow ban rules have been an enigma to me. That's why I don't really post on the platform because of how fickle the algo is.
Rules are definitely an enigma, but sometimes the heavy moderation (or censorship depending on perspective) is a welcome break from the lies, slop, and hate coming from the rest of the internet. For me having a double edged sword is better than having no shield.
I almost never see political content on rednote. Sure hope it stays that way (whether because of censorship or not) as it's the only window I'm aware for the Chinese and non-Chinese to interact without a VPN
You've definitely done well massaging your algorithm. About half my feed is political, most of it Chinese users posting about US politics or Chinese emigres expressing how US politics affect them. Some even use Trump's rants as "native-level" English lessons hahahahahaha