In a surprising turn of events, over 700 million TikTok users have migrated to the Chinese social video platform RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu) ahead of the scheduled TikTok ban in the US. This mass exodus has not only led to a cultural exchange between users from the two countries but has also resulted in a significant surge in Mandarin learning on the popular language-learning app Duolingo.

The shift to RedNote is seen as a strong signal to the US government and potential TikTok competitors like Meta that there is a demand for the type of social networking experiences that China creates, and which US companies have only managed to imitate. However, the move has also raised questions about US users' concerns regarding Chinese companies collecting their personal data for nefarious use, one of the key factors that led to TikTok's ban in the first place.

As RedNote is designed for a Chinese audience, the app's default language is Mandarin Chinese. This has prompted a significant increase in US users taking a crash course in Mandarin on Duolingo. According to Duolingo, the app has seen a 216% growth in new Mandarin learning in the US compared to this time last year, with a sharp spike in mid-January as RedNote's adoption took off.

Duolingo has also reported a corresponding spike in people selecting "TikTok" as their response to the "How did you hear about us" survey. The company has taken to social media to poke fun at the sudden interest in Mandarin learning, joking "oh so NOW you're learning mandarin" in a recent post. The company has also posted a video to TikTok promoting the use of its app for learning the Chinese language, which has garnered over half a million likes.

According to data from app intelligence provider Appfigures, consumer demand for Duolingo's language learning courses has also affected the app's install base. The firm reports that Duolingo's app saw a 36% increase in US downloads across the App Store and Google Play combined as of January 3, an early sign that users may have tried out different Chinese social apps before the surge to join RedNote hit later in the month.

As of now, Duolingo is ranked No. 22 in Top Overall and No. 20 in Top Apps, a significant jump from its previous ranking in the 40s. This surge in interest in Mandarin learning and Duolingo's app is a clear indication that users are willing to adapt to new platforms and languages in order to maintain their social networking experiences.

The implications of this shift are far-reaching, and it will be interesting to see how this cultural exchange between US and Chinese users plays out in the coming weeks and months. Will this lead to a greater understanding and appreciation between the two cultures, or will it raise further concerns about data privacy and security? Only time will tell.