U.S. TikTokers flock to Xiaohongshu, baffling and bonding with Chinese users
restofworld.org
Americans are joining the Chinese social media app en masse to protest an imminent TikTok ban.

Americans are joining the Chinese social media app en masse to protest an imminent TikTok ban.

  • American users have flocked to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu in defiance of security warnings.
  • Chinese and American users have engaged in surprisingly friendly conversations about each other’s lives.
  • The influx of American users could burden Xiaohongshu’s censorship mechanism, experts say.
  • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
    43·
    11 hours ago

    Is it that surprising that your average person in another country is easy to get on with? I’ve been to a fair few different countries and the everyday people you interact with are lovely (except France).

    It’s the fucking politicians you’ve got to look out for, and not just the foreign ones.

    • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      43 minutes ago

      It’s funny that I’ve never had bad experiences with the French and most of my visits to France were to Paris.

      Then again I do speak French and try and take advantage of being over there to exercise my language knowledge in it as much as I can.

      In my experience people almost everywhere (well, not in English-speaking countries, probably because English is the present day lingua franca so it’s kinda expected that you can speak it) generally appreciate you trying to speak their language even if you’re pretty bad at it and just trying to learn the local “good day”, " goodbye" and “thank you” will get you a lot of goodwill.

        • rakeshmondal@lemmy.zipEnglish
          4·
          8 hours ago

          Are they really that unwelcoming? I’ve heard a bunch about this, fortunately never got to experience it first hand.

          • Mr_Blott@feddit.ukEnglish
            81·
            3 hours ago

            Here’s the thing - the french motto is Freedom, Equality, Fraternity

            They’re massively into the equality thing. Whether someone’s a waiter, a cleaner, a doctor or a judge, you must treat them with the same amount of respect

            The only types of people that I’ve ever seen saying that the french are rude are the types that think cleaners are beneath them, and that everyone speaks English if you say it loud enough

            • VintageGenious@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              22 minutes ago

              This is one of the two factors for the bad reputation of France from US, the other one is the cultural shock that French people prefer genuine conversation and hate small talk, they’d find random american’s conversation superficial and faked.

              I am neighboring France and we have kinda similar culture, though people here tend to dislike some French people for their lack of patience or accountability and their pride, though it’s a stereotype, as always.

            • ByteJunk@lemmy.worldEnglish
              5·
              2 hours ago

              This is kinda of my experience. The type of people that I see getting mistreated are the “I am le touriste, entertain me!” kind.

              Americans especially tend to fall into this category a lot, they tend to be loud, brash and self centered, especially towards staff.

              Look here you pot of lard, you bought a 2€ croissant, not my fucking soul. You want something, ask nicely and I will gladly help you. Act like you own me, I’m gonna piss on your food.

          • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            5 hours ago

            I spent one day in Paris, let me give you the highlights…

            1. We arrived, left the train station, and were immediately accosted by like 5 people trying to sell us friendship bracelets, or little string bracelets
            2. We left the area and walked to a local Metro station to get across the city, we wanted to check something, so we went to the nearby information section, where the lady refused to speak any English, despite the signage indicating that English was spoken there
            3. We figured it out on our own and entered the station, which smelled exactly and completely of piss
            4. We got off the train and walked along the river for about 10 seconds before being accosted by a conman pretending we’d just dropped some jewelry. Apparently it’s a common con. We ignored him and moved on.
            5. We had an ok time for the rest of the day trip, until we got back to the original train station, where we sat in a café beside a family who decided to change their kid’s diaper at their table, and then threw the used one to the nearest bin like they were playing cornhole

            I’m not in a big rush to go back.

          • danciestlobster@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            5 hours ago

            I have only ever had great experiences visiting france, but then again I avoided Paris for the most part