Sorry if this is controversial, but I’ve heard some people saying (title) and that it’s ironic that after the American government tried so hard to ban the little red book of the cultural revolution from being in everyone’s pockets, now it is in everyone’s pockets again in the form of an app on their phones.

I’m sure the first thing people will say is, it’s a social media app similar to TikTok, which is why Americans are flocking to it in the wake of (and in anticipation of) TikTok’s ban for reasons related to CCP interference. It’s not literally the writings of Mao Zedong, in any way. But I think it’s more of a symbolic idea of what it represents. It’s also very interesting that the first choice of an app to replace TikTok was one that seems even more closely associated with China than TikTok is; I wonder if Red Note actually takes off in America that it will be banned as well otherwise it may have just replaced the perceived problem with another one.

  • communism@lemmy.ml
    17·
    18 hours ago

    …No, it’s a social media app.

    If you’re referring to the title of the book, it’s called “Quotations from Mao Tse-tung”. “Little red book” is an English nickname and Chinese people don’t call it that, so the app name would not be a reference.

    • Socket462@feddit.it
      1·
      1 hour ago

      From relevant Wikipedia page in Chinese: "因为最流行的版本用红色封面包装，文化大革命中通称「红宝书」

      Which translates to: “Because the most popular version had a red cover, it was commonly known as the “Little Red Book” during the Cultural Revolution.”

      Edit: typo

  • socsa@piefed.socialEnglish
    31·
    16 hours ago

    Yes the American government tried to ban a book I can get for $6 on Amazon Prime. Why do people believe these things?

  • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]@hexbear.net
    81·
    22 hours ago

    It’s an app like tiktok. Symbolically you can interpret it as representing anything you want, that’s how symbolism works, but what it actually is is an app like tiktok.

  • Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org
    21·
    18 hours ago

    I don’t think so.

    But if it really has leftist ideology and good discussions in it, unlike the mostly centrist slighty left-ish discussions in social media like Reddit, that would be awesome.

    Is it really so? Then I’d join it to see the discussions

    • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      6·
      18 hours ago

      It is leftist, in a way that’s so much more casual and all-encompassing than I’m used to. Lemmy communities feel like little hidden leftist saloons in the wasteland, while the culture and friendliness on rednote feels more like what a whole society of people who share leftist values should feel like. It’s immensely refreshing to just look at people’s art projects without alo feeling like you have to be constantly prepared to do battle against a firehose of manufactured outrage, clickbait and smug dehumanization, like on basically any American social media I see these days. The cultural exchange itself is heartwarming beyond description, and I’ve seen tears on both sides of it.

      • Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org
        2·
        7 hours ago

        Cool.Thank you.

        Can people use it through a android firefox? I tend to avoid apps, unless they are foss

        I had tried to access the site, but didn’t understand the interface. But have heard that the developers have added translation n all.

        If someone has a link to get the site UI in English, could you please share it here. I couldn’t find it on firefox android(I did try disabling ublock incase it was blocking stuff)

  • Future_Honkey [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    20 hours ago

    I just wish i was more soc media savvy. Besides the language barrier, my experience is limited to places like lemmy/reddit and the learning curve for more it has me feelin like a time traveler, i don’t know what any of this shit does, what following even means. Its fun though, what little i do get