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Find here Daxue Talks episode 61. In this interview, Miro Li discusses the changing landscape of RED during the virus outbreak. Watch it to know how Xiaohongshu has changed during the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Full transcript below:

How has coronavirus effected users behaviour on Xiaohongshu?

I think users spend more time on this app, so because during this outbreak people can’t go out or go to work, they are stuck at home and they actually spend more time on the entertainment apps like Douyin and Red. During the Chinese New Year in 2020, the Red DAU (Daily Active Users) actually increased by 35% compared to the same period in 2019 and the DAU reached around 21 million. Also, the average daily time spent on Red for each user increased by 44.9% during the Chinese New Year.

More and more users like to watch live streaming on Red because live streaming is also a new function launched by Red in January 2020. Red as a platform also wants to push this new function, so they invited a lot of brands and KOL’s to host the live streaming on Red. Therefore, more and more people are staying at home and are watching the live streaming on Red. Whether it’s an e-commerce live streaming, like to sell products, or it’s just a KOL to check in with their followers, more and more users on Red are willing to watch it. Also, users share a lot of COVID-19 news, like how to disinfect, how to wear a mask, and other instructions during the quarantine time.

What topics are hot on Xiaohongshu during coronavirus?

First is COVID-19 related news, because this is what people pay the most attention to during this outbreak. So, people would check on new cases every day. Also, some users who are living in Hubei province would share their own life and their own feelings on Red, so for this I think Red is not the same as other platforms. Like WeChat, on Weibo you would see like 90% of the content is the COVID-19 news, but on Red there are still a lot of users who share the entertainment-related content. For example, people will share the entertainment activities at home and also some DIY cooking recipes and instant food that you can eat at home as well as how to exercise at home. So people will post some videos or even livestream the exercise or post video courses to tell people to keep fit at home. We also see some pet products because people spend more time with their pets at home, so they would pay more attention to their pet products during this time.

Also, some home decorations or even home spray products are getting more popular as well as home electronics. And, because later after the Chinese New Year people have to work from home, to improve efficiency, people would share some efficient working activities or efficient working apps on Red, so this is what people like to talk about on Red, during the COVID-19.

What kind of KOL’s gained popularity during the coronavirus outbreak?

I think first it’s vloggers. Vloggers are actually becoming more and more popular, because people stay at home so the KOLs actually have more time to shoot videos and to talk about their daily life. So, vloggers are getting very popular during this time and we see that more and more KOL’s are actually producing vlog content during this outbreak.

Food bloggers like to share the instant food they eat at home and also, they would share some DIY recipes teaching people how to cook. This is also popular content during this time, so that’s why they are getting more poplar and also some bloggers they always recommend some home decoration or electronics or house cleaning products. And we see some fitness KOL’s launching online courses or live streaming courses to teach you how to do exercise at home, so the fitness KOL’s are also getting more popular.

Any questions? We will find an expert to answer them. Drop your questions in the comments or send us an email – dx@daxueconsulting.com.