THE SECRET SAUCE OF CHINESE SOCIAL MEDIA APPS

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

In the days leading up to the deadline for TikTok to be banned in the US, users flocked to other Chinese apps such as Xiaohongshu and Lemon8. These apps have many of the same features that made TikTok so appealing: an infinite scroll of hyper-targeted recommendations and interactions with friendly strangers. They blend entertainment and networking with sales to monetize their addictive algorithms. This strategy has been very profitable, making China the global leader in social commerce.