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

TL;DR

This study examines how the #wlw hashtag migrated from TikTok to RedNote among Chinese queer women, highlighting cross-cultural diffusion, community responses, and the hashtag's evolving role in queer and feminist discourse.

Contribution

It offers an empirical analysis of hashtag ingress and diffusion across platforms, revealing mechanisms of cultural integration in online queer communities.

Findings

#wlw was successfully introduced through immigrant importation and mutual interpretation.

The hashtag now serves as a recognized symbol for sharing queer life on RedNote.

#wlw semantically expanded to include feminism discourse.

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.