//Lin Jian, a digital cultures and platform studies scholar at Chinese University of Hong Kong, told HKFP earlier this month that the site (New Praya, Kennedy Town), which launched in 2013, had grown in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people had to stay home under strict anti-epidemic policies.
According to Lin, while people have long used the app to find out information about particular products, they were now turning to it for travel advice. Xiaohongshu’s algorithm was “straightforward,” Lin added – by packing four posts into the screen instead of showing one at a time like other social media apps, it was able to feed more targeted content to its users.
“This is how algorithms work in general, they keep pushing related content to you, based on previous activities online, but Xiaohongshu does it in a more aggressive way,” the scholar said.
…Although the portrayal of Hong Kong on Xiaohongshu may only highlight certain qualities of the city, Lin said the rise of this platform could help narrow the gap between Hongkongers and mainland Chinese, as discussion on various topics – including more controversial issues such as Hong Kong’s identity – could take place. Even if the discussion gets heated, it could still be beneficial to bridging understanding between people, the scholar said.//
Full article: https://shorturl.at/cftHO (Hong Kong Free Press)
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