“Bizarre and beautiful” is exactly how I would describe watching firsthand this past week as countless Americans began directly engaging with average Chinese for the first time via the migration to RedNote (小红书). There has never been- not hyperbole here - the degree of cultural exchange at the grass roots level between the peoples of these two nations. More than likely it won’t last. That won’t take away from what was achieved. #greaterunderstanding

Need to reiterate the following to any/all who are new to Nostr. Engagement with the community is critical. A “lurker’s” mentality will result in a very sub-par experience. Say whatever you want. Post notes on whatever is your subject matter expertise. Be weird, whatever that might mean. Just engage on a regular basis. This is a message I have to keep reminding myself too.

China Morning Missive America is being outplayed at every single turn by #China. The news on Apple is just one very small outcome of what is quite possibly instore over the next four years. Unlike Trump 1.0, China has prepared for what is about to play out. This time around, there will be no “waiting to negotiate”. Every time the US makes a move to contain China, there will be a counter move meant to hit the US where it hurts. We already saw this with restrictions on rare earth minerals last month. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The US needs to play smarter and do better. The thinking that being a hammer means everything you see is a nail will be insanely counterproductive. https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-smartphone-shipments-china-fell-25-q4-canalys-says-2025-01-16/

Asked about TikTokers migrating to RedNote in my CNBC segment. Said it would probably be a short lived phenomenon. Then said “the TikTok refugees should go to Nostr.” Explained that it was truly decentralized and even a far better option than Bluesky. The hosts didn’t know where to go after that. Was great to preach the Nostr protocol on CNBC though.

Those Americans rapidly jumping on the Chinese social media app RedNote are in for a very rude awakening. The censors will be out enforce and expect blowback as these new users are unceremoniously banned, and at a rapid clip, in the coming weeks. That said, I’ve been rather shocked at the sheer number of American users now filling up the app’s timeline.

Holy Abomination Batman!!!!!

Funniest thing ever, and a perfect demonstration of one’s (collective) inability to truly understand the concept of irony. “TikTok refugee” is the term and on yet another Chinese social media app RedNote or 小红书.

This is no news flash here. Chinese retail has been sliced and diced for a few years now trying to catch falling knives. Money is either going into govt bonds or is being used to pay down mortgage debt. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinas-retail-investor-sours-quickly-stocks-2025-01-14/

What’s worse? TikTok in the hands of the Chinese? Or TikTok in the hand of Elon Musk?

The irony of all ironies. The decision is made to ban Tik Tok (or 抖音 in Chinese) and what is it that you end up with? American content creators rabidly migrating over to the even larger social media platform in China (小红书）