What the study found
The study found that the U.S. TikTok ban, treated as a hypermediated political crisis, led to platform migration from TikTok to RedNote and changed how people communicated there. The authors describe this as a process in which “TikTok refugees” and RedNote natives moved from playful, ironic interaction toward more everyday, high-cultural, and artistic exchanges, ending in affective solidarity and a cosmopolitan discursive community.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that these communicative practices show how digital resilience can develop through bottom-up interaction during political crisis. They also suggest that such micro-level, depoliticized everyday communication can subtly challenge and reconfigure a state-centered international political-cultural order.
What the researchers tested
The researchers extended a three-stage framework of digital resilience building to the case of the U.S. TikTok ban. They used non-engagement observation of the event and systematic analysis of empirical materials, along with a contextualized political analysis, to examine how users absorbed shocks, adapted to risks, and changed their digital political and apolitical practices.
What worked and what didn't
The study reports that the interaction between the two groups initially took the form of gamification and entertainment. Over time, these exchanges shifted toward everyday life, high-cultural, and artistic practices, which the authors say deepened into affective solidarity and a cosmopolitan discursive community.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not give detailed limits on the data, the period studied, or how the empirical materials were selected. Its broader geopolitical interpretation is presented by the authors as an argument, not as a directly tested causal claim.
Key points
- The study focuses on the U.S. TikTok ban as a case of hypermediated political crisis.
- TikTok users who migrated to RedNote are described as “TikTok refugees.”
- Early interactions were characterized by gamification and entertainment.
- Later interactions shifted toward everyday life and high-cultural and artistic practices.
- The authors describe the outcome as affective solidarity and a cosmopolitan discursive community.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- TikTok refugees and RedNote natives formed a cosmopolitan discursive community
- Authors:
- Gaohong Jing, Xueting Zhang
- Institutions:
- Jinan University, Jinan University, University of Jinan, University of Jinan
- Publication date:
- 2026-02-25
- DOI:
- 10.17645/pag.11679
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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