Young Western social media users are embracing a “very Chinese time” of their lives, and China’s government is keen to use this moment to boost the country’s cultural influence worldwide.
It’s not just a TikTok thing, though. And isn’t the fact that TikTok has gotten as large as it has (despite its current status of being run under US oligarchs for US users), and how many USAmericans decided to start using RedNote when it initially was banned in the US, also evidence to the claim that China is having a big cultural moment?
I can at least say anecdotally that random people I’ve met who aren’t politically involved have been getting more into specifically Chinese cultural products. Games, movies, etc. And among my inner friend group (who, admittedly, are definitely much more inclined to support China politically, not just culturally) we make jokes about Chinamaxxing too.
Also, there is no equivalence between the relationship between TikTok and Chinese culture as a whole versus YouTube and Google products. “TikTok is to China as YouTube is to Google products” is not valid because TikTok is to China as YouTube is to the United States. And while checking how people feel about a country based on trends on social media wouldn’t be the ideal way to gauge things (polls are obviously better) it still seems reasonable.
It’s not just a TikTok thing, though. And isn’t the fact that TikTok has gotten as large as it has (despite its current status of being run under US oligarchs for US users), and how many USAmericans decided to start using RedNote when it initially was banned in the US, also evidence to the claim that China is having a big cultural moment?
I can at least say anecdotally that random people I’ve met who aren’t politically involved have been getting more into specifically Chinese cultural products. Games, movies, etc. And among my inner friend group (who, admittedly, are definitely much more inclined to support China politically, not just culturally) we make jokes about Chinamaxxing too.
Also, there is no equivalence between the relationship between TikTok and Chinese culture as a whole versus YouTube and Google products. “TikTok is to China as YouTube is to Google products” is not valid because TikTok is to China as YouTube is to the United States. And while checking how people feel about a country based on trends on social media wouldn’t be the ideal way to gauge things (polls are obviously better) it still seems reasonable.