Hashtag Re-Appropriation for Audience Control on Recommendation-Driven Social Media Xiaohongshu (rednote)

TL;DR

This paper investigates how women on Xiaohongshu re-appropriate hashtags to control their audience and maintain safe spaces, revealing strategies for user agency in algorithmic social media environments.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of hashtag re-appropriation as a form of audience control and provides empirical insights from mixed-methods analysis of user practices.

Findings

Women re-appropriate hashtags to block male audiences.

Hashtag re-appropriation is motivated by safety and agency.

Users perceive re-appropriation as a form of self-governance.

Abstract

Algorithms have played a central role in personalized recommendations on social media. However, they also present significant obstacles for content creators trying to predict and manage their audience reach. This issue is particularly challenging for marginalized groups seeking to maintain safe spaces. Our study explores how women on Xiaohongshu (rednote), a recommendation-driven social platform, proactively re-appropriate hashtags (e.g., #Baby Supplemental Food) by using them in posts unrelated to their literal meaning. The hashtags were strategically chosen from topics that would be uninteresting to the male audience they wanted to block. Through a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed the practice of hashtag re-appropriation based on 5,800 collected posts and interviewed 24 active users from diverse backgrounds to uncover users' motivations and reactions towards the re-appropriation. This practice highlights how users can reclaim agency over content distribution on recommendation-driven platforms, offering insights into self-governance within algorithmic-centered power structures.