UpScrolled Gains Users Amid TikTok Ownership Transition

The social media landscape is shifting rapidly as users migrate to alternative platforms in the wake of last week’s TikTok U.S. ownership transition. Among the beneficiaries is UpScrolled, a network positioning itself as a politically neutral space, which has seen its daily download rate skyrocket by 2,850%.

Data from market intelligence firm Appfigures reveals that UpScrolled recorded approximately 41,000 downloads between Thursday and Saturday alone. This surge accounts for nearly one-third of the application’s total lifetime installs, which now stand at 140,000, with 75,000 of those originating from U.S. users. The app currently holds the 12th spot overall on Apple’s App Store and ranks second within the social networking category.

Growth and Technical Challenges

The sudden influx of new users has tested the platform’s infrastructure. In a statement posted to X, the company acknowledged the strain, noting that its servers reached capacity. The team, which describes itself as a small group building an alternative to “Big Tech,” is currently scaling operations to accommodate the demand across its iOS and Android versions.

Founded last year by Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist Issam Hijazi, UpScrolled offers a feature set similar to Instagram and X, supporting photo, video, and text-based posts. Hijazi frames the project as a move toward a “digital ecosystem” that prioritizes user control over algorithmic influence.

Catalysts for Migration

The rise of alternatives like UpScrolled and the open-source platform Skylight—which recently surpassed 380,000 sign-ups—follows significant changes at TikTok. The platform recently finalized a deal to form a majority American-owned joint venture, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake of less than 20%. Managing investors include Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, each holding 15%.

User migration has been driven by several factors, including:

• Political Apprehension: Concerns regarding the potential political allegiances of TikTok’s new U.S. investors.
• Content Moderation Disputes: Allegations of censorship involving high-profile figures like Senator Chris Murphy and Billie Eilish, who questioned the suppression of content related to ICE and protests in Minneapolis. While TikTok attributed these issues to a data center outage, skepticism remains.
• Privacy Policy Updates: New terms allowing the tracking of GPS coordinates have prompted some users to seek platforms that explicitly promise to avoid shadowbanning and ensure fair post visibility.

As the company continues to scale, the team behind UpScrolled maintains that their goal is to provide a space where “creators, communities, and businesses thrive independently, with real control, transparency, and accountability.”