“Looking for Goths”, “This is my cat”. 

Their rapid influx has made Xiaohongshu the top three free app downloads in the United States that day.

Interestingly, the first place in the download list, “Lemon8“, is a copycat Xiaohongshu developed by TikTok. From the interface to the way of use to the way of using photoshopped pictures in the App, it is exactly the same as Xiaohongshu.

ChatGPT has fallen from the top of the list to the fourth place｜AppStore

All this stems from a judgment in March last year.

At that time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly with 352 votes in favor and 65 votes against to pass the TikTok “sell or go” proposal. The full name of this proposal is the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act). If ByteDance does not split or sell the TikTok business within 165 days, it will be removed from the U.S. App Store.

This means that if no suitable buyer can be found, TikTok’s 170 million active users in the United States will no longer be able to update the App, and TikTok will eventually become a corpse in the phone.

January 19 this year is the deadline set by the U.S. Supreme Court, and a ruling will be made on whether TikTok must be discontinued in the United States.

The audio live broadcast on the U.S. Supreme Court website shows that on January 10 local time, the U.S. Supreme Court held a two-hour discussion on the future of TikTok in the United States.

The discussion results show that the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals will maintain the original verdict and require TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest its investment in the United States before January 19, 2025, otherwise it will face a ban.

While American users are anxiously waiting for the fate of TikTok, they are also beginning to prepare for the future of TikTok’s disappearance. They flocked to Xiaohongshu to open new accounts and called themselves “TikTok Refugees“, supporting more than 40 million traffic and nearly 100,000 posts on Xiaohongshu.

In the past two days, Xiaohongshu’s search data on Google has exploded at a phenomenal level.

This situation may not last long, but at present, Xiaohongshu is still constantly accepting cyber refugees who have left Tiktok.

I joined a Xiaohongshu Douyin refugee group to see what they are discussing and why they moved to Xiaohongshu.

TT refugee posted a video on X explaining why he switched to XiaohongshuTT refugee reported on Xiaohongshu

Pay cat tax, become an Internet celebrity

Open the homepage of Xiaohongshu, many Americans are “paying cat tax”. It is said that in Xiaohongshu, only by paying cat tax can you be accepted by the community. Those who don’t have cats start to pay dog tax and rabbit tax.

Tiktok refugees need to pay dog/cat taxes to stay on RedNote Community & Group

Posting pictures of your own pets often gets explosive traffic – pet pictures are like cockroaches. If you have one in the comment area, hundreds of them will appear.

In Xiaohongshu, a community full of various lifestyle sharing, “cats” are no longer just pets. They are traffic passwords, emotional bonds, and even a “pass” to enter this community.

What is “paying cat tax”?

The so-called “paying cat tax” is simply to upload photos or videos of cats and interact with the community. This phenomenon has gradually become a “rule” from a fun behavior at the beginning – if you want to fit into the social circle of Xiaohongshu, a photo of a cat may be more useful than carefully written content.

What if you don’t have a cat? Don’t worry, “dog tax”, “rabbit tax” and even “hamster tax” have been launched. As long as you have a pet, you have a chance to become popular if you post a picture.

But the most classic is still the cat, whether it is a lazy posture, a surprised expression, or a funny moment, there is a unique appeal.

Why is the “cat tax” popular?

1. Cats are cute and everyone loves to watch

Cats are creatures that you never get tired of watching. They are either stupid and cute or aloof, and they always make people stare at the screen and laugh out loud. It is this attraction that is regardless of age and nationality that makes “cats” the traffic password of the Internet.

2. Pets bring emotional resonance

For many people, cats are not only pets, but also family members. When seeing other people’s cats, people will naturally think of their own pets and have emotional identification.

3. Cat pictures are social lubricants

If you include a picture of a cat in your post, the interaction in the comment section will often explode. People will share their own cats, or simply exclaim “this is so cute”. Just like the “cockroach effect”: once a cat picture appears, the comment section will be flooded with pet pictures.

How to “pay the cat tax” to become an Internet celebrity?

1. Capture the funny moments of cats

Cold cats are beautiful, but what makes people laugh is those “stupid and cute” moments, such as:

The “social death” expression after a failed jump;

The “anger” when being toyed with a cat teaser;

The “regretful face” after eating too much.

2. Add some “human touch” to the cat

Use the accompanying text to give the cat a unique personality, or use emoticons to show the cat’s daily life. These methods can turn ordinary pet photos into classic memes that netizens are vying to imitate.

3. Don’t ignore interaction

Uploading cat pictures is just the first step, and interaction with fans is more important. For example, commenting on other people’s pets and sharing pet-raising experiences will help you integrate into the community faster.

4. Innovative pet forms

If you think that simply posting cat pictures is too ordinary, you can try adding fresh elements: shooting themed blockbusters for cats, such as cat baristas, cat detectives, or making funny videos to instantly capture the flow of traffic.

Why has pet content become a traffic password?

In fact, behind the popularity of “paying cat tax” is a trend in Internet content creation:

Low threshold: More and more people are raising pets, and sharing pet life is natural and more real.

High participation: Pet topics are easy to “break defense”, and everyone can’t help but like and comment.

Strong communication power: Pet content has the attributes of “healing” and “funny”, which can quickly attract a lot of attention.