I'm tempted to try it due to it being a very accessible way to interact with Chinese netizens, at the same time I don't like the instagram/tiktok shit it has and idk if it's worth it lol

[–] LaughingLion@hexbear.net 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I chat regularly with a few Chinese netizens on XHS. A couple of things you should know:

The US government actually monitors what is said on there and if you say something expressing violent intent towards the USA or it's allies the FBI will visit you and this has been documented happening to a user.
The built in translation works pretty good but some notes: misgendering happens a lot and its not intentional (spoken Mandarin is genderless and netizens don't care to correct pronouns in written Mandarin) and Mandarin is very direct and that can sometimes come off as rude in translation.
The app itself is pretty unsecure so just assume all communication you do on there is open to everyone and their mother to see.
You will learn some Mandarin if you spend enough time on there between just comprehensible input and the occasional video that pops up of someone teaching short, basic Mandarin words and phrases.
There are also a few accounts of North Koreans and a few of Chinese students studying in North Korea and it's kind of cool to see beyond the veil into snippets of North Korean life here and there.
There is a punk/hardcore scene in Beijing and it's dope af.

So anyways I encourage everyone to do it and see what China is really like. Even though there are many things to criticize about China (they have a long way to go for LGBTQ rights, for instance) there is more to praise and most people walk away with a better view of China than before going in.

[–] thirstyskyline@hexbear.net 9 points 2 days ago

Yeah I have seen XHS uses literal http lmao wtf, I have good opsec dont worry comrade, also not in the US, running it in a grapheneos profile should be good enough tbh, they prolly block vpns though

Yeah what you said sounds nice I want to meet people out of the anglo english bubble. Thank you!

[–] ClimateStalin@hexbear.net 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I would imagine there are other Chinese sites/apps that are more similar to what you tend to use?

XHS works well for me because I like TikTok. The parts where it’s more Pinterest-y is where it loses me.

[–] thirstyskyline@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They dont really have good english automated translations and it's pretty much hard to use (e.g. Bilibili). Chinese forums idk and basically hard to find. Weibo is meh. I don't want to fuck up my attentionspan with Tiktok slop XD

[–] Wakmrow@hexbear.net 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Wechat

[–] thirstyskyline@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago

You cant signup without already knowing someone from China

[–] ClimateStalin@hexbear.net 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I will say XHS doesn’t quite have the same attention span issue as bad as TikTok, because the infinite scroll of auto playing videos isn’t the default option.

[–] thirstyskyline@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

I see, nice. The best aspect of it that I saw was the ability to post questions so it kinda gave forum vibes like here