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TikTok Recovers After User Dip; Rivals Surge Then Fade
3 Feb
Summary
- TikTok usage dipped to 86-88 million daily active users after ownership change.
- Rival apps UpScrolled and Skylight Social saw temporary user boosts.
- Outage and privacy concerns briefly drove users to seek alternatives.
TikTok has seen a significant recovery in its U.S. daily active user base, returning to over 90 million after a brief decline to 86-88 million. This fluctuation occurred shortly after a change in ownership and was compounded by a multi-day data center outage. During this period, alternative video apps like UpScrolled and Skylight Social experienced a surge in new users.
UpScrolled peaked at 138,500 daily active users, while Skylight Social reached 81,200. These gains were short-lived as TikTok resolved its technical issues and users grew accustomed to updated terms and conditions. Privacy concerns, particularly regarding data tracking and the collection of "immigration status" information (a reference related to CCPA), along with the outage, had prompted users to explore other platforms.
However, data indicates that many users have since returned to TikTok. While the platform has rebounded, Similarweb notes a broader trend of slowly declining usage since its peak of 100 million daily active users between July and October 2025. The recent events represent a temporary disruption rather than a sustained loss of user engagement for TikTok.
