From Platform Migration to Cultural Integration: the Ingress and Diffusion of #wlw from TikTok to RedNote in Queer Women

2025-08-10

AI Summary

This study examines the cross-cultural transmission and semantic reconfiguration of the Western hashtag “#wlw” (women-loving-women) following its migration from TikTok to Xiaohongshu (RedNote) amid shifting platform governance regimes in China and the U.S. Employing a two-stage content analysis of 418 relevant posts, the study conducts textual mining and semantic comparison to trace functional expansion—from identity marker to queer lifestyle sharing and feminist discourse. Findings indicate that #wlw has undergone localization as a signature symbol for queer women on Xiaohongshu, serving identity affirmation, community building, and intercultural negotiation. Theoretically, the study innovatively introduces the “digital migration” framework to queer hashtag research, extending scholarly understanding of marginalized groups’ online identity practices. Empirically, it offers a rigorous case study of platform politics and cross-cultural digital subcultural interaction.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Natural Language Processing: Discourse, Pragmatics & Argument Mining
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Web

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Content-based information diffusion
• Social Networks and Social Media: Media and governance, opinion dynamics, filter bubbles, polarization
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Decentralized Web and Fediverse systems

Abstract

Hashtags serve as identity markers and connection tools in online queer communities. Recently, the Western-origin #wlw (women-loving-women) hashtag has risen in the Chinese lesbian community on RedNote, coinciding with user migration triggered by the temporary US TikTok ban. This event provides a unique lens to study cross-cultural hashtag ingress and diffusion through the populations' responsive behaviors in cyber-migration. In this paper, we conducted a two-phase content analysis of 418 #wlw posts from January and April, examining different usage patterns during the hashtag's ingress and diffusion. Results indicate that the successful introduction of #wlw was facilitated by TikTok immigrants' bold importation, both populations' mutual interpretation, and RedNote natives' discussions. In current manifestation of diffusion, #wlw becomes a RedNote-recognized queer hashtag for sharing queer life, and semantically expands to support feminism discourse. Our findings provide empirical insights for enhancing the marginalized communities' cross-cultural communication.

Problem

• Studies cross-cultural hashtag ingress and diffusion in queer communities
• Examines #wlw migration from TikTok to RedNote in Chinese lesbian community
• Analyzes factors enabling successful hashtag adoption and semantic expansion

Innovation

• Two-phase content analysis of 418 #wlw posts
• Examining hashtag ingress and diffusion patterns
• Cross-cultural communication enhancement for marginalized communities