Not that there's anything wrong with people wanting to learn mandarin but I wonder whether this uptick in engagement with the Chinese world will just be a blip and soon people will get bored of it and look for more "Western" platforms again.
Like, when the enshittification of reddit and Twitter took root, you would also see very big numbers of users flocking to alternative platforms like Lemmy (like yours truly!) or Mastodon but in the end, after the initial novelty wore off, how many of those people actually ended up sticking around or moved on to something else after a short while?
My point is that it is still way too early to judge whether RedNote will become the next TikTok in the US, or whether this could be the start of a mass grassroots movement for American and Chinese people to get closer.
No one is learning any language using shitty Duolingo all they are learning is how to parrot useless phrases and vocab with no explanation on how to form sentences or actually use the language properly for themselves.
Can anyone explain to me what makes TikTok and now this RedNote so much better than the other short form options (YT, Insta... others) that people think learning a completely different and unfamiliar language is not only viable, but the best option?
I want to learn another language for travel purposes, which to me makes sense. I've never had the itch to learn one so I could use a social media platform.