TikTok users have flocked to the Chinese social media platform RedNote as the shutdown of ByteDance’s international subsidiary looms. Like many so-called “TikTok refugees”, US legal bloggers are testing the RedNote waters, while lawyers in China are taking advantage of the foreign user influx by posting English content.
Leslie Abrigo, a California-based partner at Genesis Family Law who previously has posted educational and marketing videos on TikTok, has recently joined RedNote along with many “TikTok refugees”.
To cater to the Chinese audience, she has included Chinese subtitles on her English-speaking videos posted on RedNote.
Abrigo told China Business Law Journal, “I debated whether to open an account on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) because I was not sure if there would be a market for me as a family law attorney on this app.”
However, her experimentation on Chinese social media has been fruitful. “I have always wanted to interact with other attorneys in China, but I never knew how to do it. With Xiaohongshu, I am finding that not only am I meeting lovely people from all over the world, but some of them are attorneys, and that seems to be a good place to start to find out if there is a need for the services I offer.”
Lawyers from mainland China who usually post content in Chinese have taken advantage of the “TikTok refugee” trend and uploaded self-introductory posts in English.
Ryo Lu, a Shanghai-based partner at JunHe, who is among the first batch of users to dabble in this trend said, “When I posted the English post, I didn’t think about leveraging the TikTok refugee trend to promote my services. I just thought it was fun.”
Lu, who specialises in data compliance and cybersecurity, said, “I think using RedNote to promote our services has a minimal effect on my practice area.”
She said lawyers at China’s top “red circle” law firms or those doing non-contentious work were less likely to rely on RedNote to promote their businesses as their main clients were mostly companies, with few being individual clients. They mainly obtain new business through meeting clients in real life or attending seminars hosted by the law firm.
Despite this, Lu said maintaining a social media presence could help build trust among clients. “Sometimes when I meet clients, they mention that they have followed me on RedNote, this might help bridge the gap between us,” she said.
Yvonne Wong, an attorney at Yingke Law Firm in Shanghai, said, “As a lawyer specialising in cross-border civil and commercial disputes, I can build a personal brand on social media to gain exposure so that I don’t have to rely on other marketing platforms.”
Wong who practices international commercial arbitration and civil litigation said she would adjust her promotional strategy due to the increase of “TikTok refugees”.
“Currently, outbound legal services that involve representing Chinese individuals or companies are becoming increasingly competitive,” Wong added, “With that said, I believe there is still a large market out there so I will treat overseas clients as my target audience for some of my posts on social media.”
On 24 April 2024, US President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok, or else it would be banned in the US on 19 January 2025. As of 17 January 2025, at least 19 million posts including the hashtag “TikTok refugee” have been published on RedNote, with 1.1 billion views. On the same day, RedNote topped the download chart on Apple’s US App Store.
How long the “TikTok refugee” trend will last remains uncertain, but Abrigo said she would continue using RedNote even if TikTok survived in the US.
“I plan to and will continue to use it to teach interested persons what lawyer life in California is like as well as the various pathways that are now afforded to people attempting to become licensed attorneys in the state,” Abrigo said.
“The added bonus to this platform, like TikTok, is that I see all the beautiful places, people and culture that we get very limited access to in the US. I am enjoying the app and hope to get some basic Chinese in my vocabulary over the next few months.
