UpScrolled’s Meteoric Rise: A New Era in Social Networking Amid TikTok’s U.S. Transition
In the aftermath of TikTok’s recent ownership restructuring in the United States, a significant shift is occurring in the social media landscape. Users are actively exploring alternative platforms, leading to a remarkable surge in popularity for UpScrolled, a burgeoning social network committed to impartiality and user empowerment.
UpScrolled’s Ascendancy
UpScrolled has swiftly climbed the ranks, now holding the 12th position overall in Apple’s App Store and securing the second spot in the social networking category. This rapid ascent underscores a growing user preference for platforms that prioritize transparency and user control.
A Fusion of Familiar Features
Combining elements reminiscent of Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), UpScrolled offers a versatile platform where users can share photos, videos, and text posts. The app also facilitates content discovery and direct messaging, providing a comprehensive social networking experience.
Founder’s Vision
Established in the previous year by Issam Hijazi—a technologist with Palestinian, Jordanian, and Australian roots—UpScrolled was conceived as a space for users to freely express thoughts, share moments, and connect with others, as stated on the app’s official website. The development team emphasizes their commitment to creating a platform that belongs to its users, free from hidden algorithms or external agendas.
Hijazi articulates this vision, stating, UpScrolled is the foundation for a digital ecosystem that puts power back into the hands of the people—not the corporations. It’s more than just an alternative to Meta, X, or TikTok—it’s a reimagining of what social media should be: a space where creators, communities, and businesses thrive independently, with real control, transparency, and accountability.
Managing Rapid Growth
Available on both iOS and Android platforms, UpScrolled is currently navigating the challenges associated with a sudden influx of new users. The team is actively scaling their infrastructure to meet this heightened demand.
Market intelligence from Appfigures reveals that between Thursday (the day the TikTok deal was finalized) and Saturday, UpScrolled experienced approximately 41,000 downloads, accounting for nearly one-third of its total installs to date. This equates to an average of about 14,000 daily downloads since Thursday, marking a staggering 2,850% increase in daily downloads.
To date, the app has been downloaded 140,000 times, with 75,000 of these installations originating from the United States.
Community Engagement
The UpScrolled team has been transparent about the challenges accompanying their rapid growth. In a candid post on X, they shared, Well, this is new… You showed up so fast our servers tapped out. Frustrating? Yes. Emotional? Also yes. We’re a tiny team building what Big Tech stopped being. Right now we’re scaling on caffeine to keep up with what YOU started. Bear with us. We’re on it.
Contextualizing the Surge
This surge in UpScrolled’s popularity coincides with TikTok’s announcement of a deal with a consortium of non-Chinese investors to form a majority American-owned joint venture, ensuring the app’s continued operation in the U.S. Under this new structure, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, retains less than a 20% stake, while Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX each hold a 15% stake.
Despite these changes, some users have expressed concerns about potential political biases and content censorship on TikTok. Notably, figures like Senator Chris Murphy and singer Billie Eilish have raised issues regarding the suppression of content critical of certain governmental agencies. Additionally, users reported difficulties in accessing information about protests in Minneapolis following the killing of Alex Pretti by border patrol agents.
TikTok has attributed these issues to an ongoing data center outage affecting app functionality.
Privacy Concerns and User Migration
Further fueling the migration to alternative platforms like UpScrolled are concerns stemming from TikTok’s updated privacy policy, which now permits the app to track users’ GPS coordinates, among other data points. This development has led to calls for users to delete TikTok in favor of platforms that prioritize user privacy and content fairness.
UpScrolled’s commitment to not shadowbanning users and ensuring every post has a fair chance to be seen resonates with users seeking a more transparent and equitable social media experience.
Emergence of Competitors
UpScrolled is not alone in benefiting from the current social media upheaval. Skylight, another TikTok alternative built on open-source technology, reports over 380,000 sign-ups and continues to experience growth.
Conclusion
The rapid rise of UpScrolled highlights a significant shift in user preferences towards social media platforms that emphasize transparency, user control, and impartiality. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, platforms like UpScrolled are poised to redefine the future of social networking.
