Why Everyone’s Talking About UpScrolled & Leaving TikTok

TikTok’s Turbulent Week Spurs an Exodus

It’s been a rough stretch for TikTok. On Sunday, January 25, the massively popular video app suffered a major outage that left many unable to sign in or seeing glitchy content loops. According to Downdetector, an outage-tracking service, user reports of problems spiked to over 36,000 at the peak of the disruption. Feeds froze on old videos or lagged, and recommendations went haywire – a frustrating experience for a user base accustomed to TikTok’s normally addictive stream of fresh content. The downtime had people flocking to other social platforms to vent. Many started openly searching for alternatives, fed up after this instability on top of existing grievances.

This technical fiasco came on the heels of an even bigger shake-up: TikTok’s U.S. operations were restructured just days earlier amid government pressure. A new joint venture called TikTok USDS was finalized on January 22, with American companies – notably Oracle – and other investors taking a controlling 80% stake, and ByteDance (TikTok’s Chinese parent) reduced to a 19.9% minority share. In other words, TikTok’s U.S. arm is now largely under U.S. ownership, a move meant to address national security worries but one that hasn’t exactly put users at ease. When TikTok rolled out an updated privacy policy as part of this transition, some users balked. They were prompted to accept new terms that raised privacy concerns, including mentions of more location tracking and sensitive data collection (even if those provisions weren’t entirely new).

The optics of a Larry Ellison-backed Oracle stake and an ominous privacy update didn’t sit well with parts of TikTok’s community – especially those already wary of Big Tech motives. Social media chatter reflects a growing sentiment that TikTok might be turning into something more restrictive under its new management. 

Enter UpScrolled: A New Short-Form Contender

Amid this swirl of discontent, UpScrolled has leapt into the spotlight as a fresh alternative. Launched in 2025, UpScrolled is a short-form video and social platform that’s suddenly trending up the app charts thanks to the TikTok backlash. Early adopters on X (formerly Twitter) have been singing its praises, calling it a “no censorship, no billionaires” network – a not-so-subtle dig at TikTok’s new ownership. In fact, UpScrolled’s About page boldly asks, “Shadowbanned elsewhere? Not here.”, positioning itself as a place where every voice gets equal power, with “No shadowbans. No algorithmic games. No pay-to-play favoritism.” This messaging has resonated with users who feel mainstream platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X have become too controlled by secret algorithms and corporate interests.

UpScrolled’s pedigree is also part of its appeal. The app’s founder, Issam Hijazi, is a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist who created UpScrolled after witnessing what he saw as the silencing of free speech on major social media. With support from a Tech for Palestine incubator, Hijazi and a small group of investors built UpScrolled as something of a passion project-turned-startup, aiming to “put power back into the hands of the people – not the corporations,” as Hijazi puts it. It’s a striking example of a new social platform born directly out of a frustration with Big Tech policies and moderation practices.

An Experience Reminiscent of Simpler Times

So what exactly makes UpScrolled different? In many ways, it feels like a throwback to simpler times in social media. The app offers a simplified feed that is largely chronological and user-driven, unlike TikTok’s hyper-curated For You algorithm. Content from those you follow shows up in order, and there’s a Discover section that uses only light ranking based on recency and engagement – no mysterious AI deciding what suddenly appears on your screen. Crucially, UpScrolled explicitly rejects “shadowbanning, algorithmic favoritism, and hidden censorship,” priding itself on transparency in how posts reach an audience. In practice, that means if you follow someone, you’re going to see their posts, period – not have them buried by an algorithm or quietly throttled.

Shadowbanning (for the uninitiated) refers to when a platform secretly suppresses a user’s content – for example, not showing their videos to others – without telling them. UpScrolled claims this practice is “not a thing” on its platform. Every post abides by clear, published rules and gets moderated by human reviewers when needed, rather than automated algorithms that might silently down-rank certain views. This ethos extends to data and monetization as well: UpScrolled says it will never sell user data, and it doesn’t monetize your personal info – a stark contrast to the ad-driven, data-hungry model behind most major social apps.

Early Buzz & Lingering Skepticism

Thanks to this convergence of factors, UpScrolled has enjoyed a surge of downloads virtually overnight. It rocketed into the Top 10 in app store social networking charts – currently sitting around #6, even above a giant like Discord. That’s an impressive feat for a newcomer. The spike in interest was so sharp that it briefly overwhelmed UpScrolled’s sign-up system, causing some slowness for new users trying to register. (The dev team acknowledged the hiccup and said they were working on scaling up their servers.)

Not everyone is convinced TikTok is doomed, though. Some social media observers urge caution, noting that we’ve seen waves of users threaten to quit platforms before – recall the outcry when Twitter was acquired, which didn’t ultimately drive most users away. TikTok still has a gargantuan user base and a cultural footprint that won’t vanish overnight. It’s also not clear how many people migrating to UpScrolled will stick around long-term once TikTok’s issues stabilize. 

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