A little-known social app called UpScrolled just became the unlikely beneficiary of TikTok's messy US ownership saga. The platform rocketed to the 12th spot on Apple's App Store this weekend as users fled TikTok following Oracle's controversial takeover - only to immediately crash under the weight of its sudden popularity. "You showed up so fast our servers tapped out," the company admitted on Bluesky, capturing the chaos of a social media migration happening in real time.
UpScrolled wasn't ready for its moment. The fledgling social platform, barely a year old, suddenly found itself drowning in new users this weekend as TikTok's American saga took another turn. After Oracle and a consortium of investors took control of TikTok's US operations last week, users started jumping ship - and many landed on UpScrolled's digital doorstep.
The exodus was swift enough to send the app to the 12th spot on Apple's App Store charts, but the infrastructure couldn't handle it. "You showed up so fast our servers tapped out," UpScrolled posted on Bluesky, scrambling to scale up capacity. It's the kind of problem every startup dreams of having - until they actually have it.
What's driving the migration isn't just the ownership change itself. Tech journalist Taylor Lorenz publicly announced her switch to UpScrolled, joining a growing chorus of users expressing concerns about potential censorship under the new regime. The timing couldn't be worse for TikTok - the platform simultaneously experienced major technical issues following the takeover, which it blamed on a power outage at one of its data centers.
UpScrolled's pitch is landing because it's simple and direct. Founded in 2025 by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist, the platform as the anti-algorithm alternative. Users can "freely express thoughts" while "ensuring every post has a fair chance to be seen," according to the company's website. The platform promises to remain "impartial" to political agendas, won't shadowban users or content, and will "uphold social responsibility."
