UpScrolled, a platform for sharing photos, videos, and text that claims political impartiality, says user growth has surged since TikTok's US takeover
Download on iOS: — apps.apple.com/app/upscroll... Download on Android: — play.google.com/store/apps/d... Check out my profile: — share.upscrolled.com/en/user/ 6ded... [image]Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin /@ecmclaughlin:Buncha organizers and political commentators are hopping onto Upscrolled, a social media platform founded by a PalestinianAustralian in the wake of censorship or genocide and anti-Trump sentiment on Meta and TikTok. — I'm there now. Just getting started. [image]See al
The VergeEmma Roth
Context & Ripple Effects
UpScrolled’s reported growth puts a small social platform into a broader dispute over whether major networks’ moderation and distribution choices give political content equal reach. Earlier coverage of TikTok’s handling of protest-related content had already made perceived platform control a salient trust issue, including questions about the visibility of Hong Kong protest videos.
The story is an early point in a rapid adoption arc: subsequent coverage said UpScrolled reached the top of Apple’s US App Store and crossed 1 million users amid allegations about TikTok video suppression, while a later founder interview described a non-algorithmic product with more than 5 million users.
First-order effects
UpScrolled gains attention and prospective users looking for an alternative venue for photos, video, and political discussion as TikTok’s US ownership changes.
TikTok and Meta face a more immediate reputational challenge among users who interpret moderation or ranking decisions as political bias, whether or not those claims are substantiated.
Second-order effects
Creators and organizers may begin maintaining parallel audiences across UpScrolled and incumbent platforms, reducing the assumption that one large social feed is sufficient for politically sensitive reach.
The surge gives UpScrolled a chance to turn a trust-driven download spike into sustained participation; its stated impartiality becomes a product promise that users can test against its moderation and feed choices.
Third-order effects
If users continue to treat perceived editorial control as a switching trigger, social platforms will compete not only on audience scale and features but on legible rules for ranking and moderation.
This points toward a more fragmented social-media market in which non-algorithmic or politically neutral positioning can be a durable differentiator, though sustaining such positioning becomes harder as a service scales.
The trend: Political trust is becoming a distribution variable, creating openings for smaller social networks when users view incumbents’ moderation and recommendation systems as opaque or partisan.
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. [image]
TikTok's been sold off to a surveillance billionaire. The algorithm is compromised and the censorship will only get worse. UpScrolled isn't perfect, but it's ours and it's where this movement goes next. Spread the word. Get on UpScrolled. [video]
UpScrolled (@realUpScrolled) is blowing up due to the Tiktok ban - #2 in the US right now. It's ethical social media: no shadowbans, no algorithmic bullshit, no controls on your feed, not designed for addiction, doesn't sell your data. Get it in the app stores! [image]
TikTok users are fleeing to a new upstart social media called UpScrolled after Larry Ellison purchased the platform. UpScrolled is founded by a Palestinian and promises no censorship and no billionaires. Yesterday, it broke into the top 15 most downloaded apps. Come join us! [ima…
I posted the same video on TikTok and Upscrolled After 5 hours the video on TikTok is still being processed. On Upscrolled it already has over 350 likes. Upscrolled is the future. [image]
We left you alone for 24 hours. You told someone. They told someone. They told everyone. #11 US 🇺🇸 #12 UK 🇬🇧 #14 AUS 🇦🇺 Time to scroll differently. [image]
I'm on UpScrolled. Join me there! — Download on iOS: — apps.apple.com/app/upscroll... Download on Android: — play.google.com/store/apps/d... Check out my profile: — share.upscrolled.com/en/user/ 6ded... [image]
@ecmclaughlin Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin on bluesky
Buncha organizers and political commentators are hopping onto Upscrolled, a social media platform founded by a Palestinian Australian in the wake of censorship or genocide and anti-Trump sentiment on Meta and TikTok. — I'm there now. Just getting started. [image]
UpScrolled just passed TikTok in US downloads after the extent of censorship of the new TikTok owners became apparent. Safe to say nobody realized how crude and overwhelming the clampdown on certain content on TikTok would be. They went Khmer Rouge from day one. [image]
UpScrolled is racing up the US download charts as TikTok censorship backlash picks up momentum. It's already Number 2 social media app in the country. Cannot keep up the momentum? [image]