TikTok’s comeback: can Rednote and VPNs hold their edge?

As TikTok’s ban lifts, will users stick with Rednote and VPNs, or return to familiar ground?

As TikTok “went dark” over the weekend before Trump’s inauguration, there was a flurry of migration among users to alternative apps like Rednote and Lemon8 and a large spike in VPN traffic.

DNS – or domain name system – traffic for TikTok was down 85% in the US at 6 a.m. UTC on January 19th and continued to decline in the following hours.

As the ban on TikTok was taking hold, a message popped up for US users trying to access the platform, reassuring them that incoming President Trump would find a solution to reinstate TikTok, as he took office on Monday.

Rednote’s time to shine

In a more steady pattern, DNS traffic for alternative app Rednote had been rising gradually since January 13th, followed by a 74% surge in visitors on January 19th.

As the majority of TikTok users will most likely return home to roost once the hullabaloo dies down, surely Rednote will still be hoping to seize an opportunity to snatch some of the market share as users ponder what to do next.

Interestingly, the Rednote uptick occurred not only in the US. Mexico had a staggering 500% escalation on January 18th, Germany 118%, France 75%, Canada 68%, and the UK 53%, reported The Cloudfare Blog.

Also, virtual private networks (VPNs) experienced a bump in activity, with Nord VPN reporting "temporary technical difficulties,” The Independent pointed out.

There is a legal grey area when resorting to VPN activity to bypass legal laws. VPNs themselves are legal but using them to access banned sites isn’t.

While there isn’t much spotlight on VPNs currently, if they were largely adopted in the mainstream the conversation may well change and the authorities could try to dismantle this type of behavior.

Trump’s TikTok u-turn: what’s next?

It seems that even Donald Trump’s announcement to give TikTok a reprieve didn’t mitigate the boost in alternative-seeking activity.

Whether or not the surge manages to sustain itself is another matter, as there are lots of variables at this point.

It seems that users are caught in the crosshairs of stay-or-go mode and are rethinking their own consumption habits.

While other platforms like X and Instagram have recently introduced video viewing and editing options, the most likely outcome would be a mass retreat to TikTok– although, of course, we’d be naive at this point to rule anything out.