this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A PDF of Mao Zedong's little red book is the digital version of Mao Zedong's little red book.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

Makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The American government doesn’t even ban books, that’s a (Southern) state government thing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

*sort of, not really.

They may ban books from being stocked in school or public libraries, that's it, but they can do fuck all about the books being sold or disseminated freely by anyone else, anywhere else.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago

I would not be suprised when the US tries to ban that book

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Is red note like the death note for astroturfing?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You should buy a copy of Mao's little red book though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm old. And I like physical media. Sue me.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

...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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Cool.Thank you.

Can people use it through 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)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s just insta and tiktok, it has no Maoist ideology lol

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If you think an app has a Maoist ideology because of its name being a reference then there’s no help for you…

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You’re hosted on lemmy.selfhostcat.com, cat in Chinese is Mao. You nearly got away with it China 🕵️‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

lol, that’s funny.

-9000 social credit score

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

I mean, the name is obviously inspired by the historical little red books.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

The law if not explicitly for TiKTok but every app with over a milion users.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The app is also literally called Little Red Book as an alternative name

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago

What do you mean an alternative name? That’s it’s name