No long term effects but it wasn't astroturf either, China doesn't want Westerners on their apps causing trouble, Westerners don't automatically speak around the forbidden subjects the way good citizens do. There's still a handful of tankie grifters and teenagers basically doing language exchange with Chinese teens, but overall it was very short-lived. And shallow. I remember being interested in what people would think of Xiaohongshu's content, as an early-adopter tourist of Chinese socials, but Americans are terminally incurious and never explored the actual site culture beyond the few curious chinks who approached them for a laugh. It definitely paved the way for the contrarian fondness people have for China increasingly often now, imo, especially since that fondness isn't based on any actual knowledge of China.