By Katie Paul NEW YORK - Chinese social media app RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, gained nearly 3 million U.S. users in one day earlier this week as a flood of self-proclaimed "TikTok Refugees" joined,

The social media app Xiaohongshu, literally “Little Red Book” but often called RedNote, has seen a sudden influx in American users as a TikTok ban looms.

Users who have the TikTok app on their phone will still be able to access it after Jan. 19. However, because the ban would prevent Apple and Google from providing the app with necessary updates, TikTok would quickly break down and become unusable, leading Americans to look for an alternative app.

With the U.S. ban on TikTok looming, many Americans are opting for another Chinese app known as RedNote. It could be short-lived.

TikTok could be banned in the US, rendering the app unusable and removing it from app stores. Instead of making do with Instagram Reels, people looked for a closer alternative and found Chinese social media app "RedNote" or Xiaohongshu,

By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Users of the Chinese social media app RedNote welcomed "TikTok refugees" from the United States with selfies and messages on Wednesday, as Beijing said it encouraged