American dad posts 'Hi' with daughter and the Chinese social media flooded him with their family photos

Social media has the power to bring people across the world together in the most unexpected ways. A simple gesture can win people's hearts and get a good response. A dad, Brecken Neumann (@BreckenN66549), experienced something similar when he posted a photo of himself and his daughter on a Chinese social media site, RedNote, and wrote a simple caption saying "Hi" to everyone. The post garnered a lot of attention from the people in China, and the internet loved that for the dad. However, later in January 2025, Selesha, who goes by @thebestkirin87 on X, reshared the incident with the platform.

"Guys, isn’t this just how the world is supposed to be?" Selesha captioned the post. It included a screenshot of Neumann's post with his toddler, Meredith, as well as a reply from a Chinese family. He shared the photo on RedNote and referred to himself as a "TikTok Migrant" in the caption. Neumann moved to the app when TikTok was banned in the US. He wrote, "Hello everyone! This is myself and my daughter saying hello to all, and look forward to all the new friends we make across the sea!"

A person from China said hello to him in the comments and shared a photo of their family. The picture included mom, dad, and their baby wearing a hat with bunny ears. Neumann replied, "Beautiful family! Hello, happy Chinese New Year!" The post received more than 8 million views on the platform. People in the comments found the interaction heartwarming.

@CrystalX0006_ wrote, "This feels unreal. It's been a long time, or I've almost never seen interactions on the internet as warm and sweet as this. It feels like a new experience." @history_iz_cool commented, "This is so wholesome. Two different cultures are coming together and instead of chaos and division, they’re just sharing their stories and experiences like, oh my God, my heart is gonna melt." @ElephantWaffle remarked, "People are pretty much all the same, regardless of where they are from. Everyone just wants to live comfortably and support their families in the best way they can. These divisions are fabricated by politicians and media, not the common man." And @SummertimeX5 said, "This is what social media was originally intended for."

Also, RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu (@red_xiaohongshu on Instagram), shared an interview with Brecken Neumann, a realtor from Mississippi, where he talked about the unexpected popularity he gained from a simple photo, as he wanted to "greet the community."

Not long after, u/Dry_Cloud1002 on Reddit gave more context to the image and explained, "A young father from Mississippi posted a photo of his daughter along with a simple 'HI' on a Chinese social platform. He ended up receiving over a thousand replies from Chinese netizens. Later, he even flew to China to meet the family whose comment received the most likes." People shared their thoughts in the comments and appreciated what social media did for people living on two sides of the world.

u/FSpursy wrote, "TikTok got banned in the US. He downloaded RedNote, China's social media app similar to Instagram, where almost all the users are Chinese. He posted a photo saying hi and got flooded with welcoming replies from people across the globe. So, once again, we see that the internet can bring people together just from anywhere in the world, and we realize that we're more similar to each other than we thought." u/SystemThe commented, "Governments often can’t get along, but those regular folk, who’ve traveled the world, know it’s just dads, daughters, teachers and doctors all the way around the world."