TikTok Faces Short Slowdown, Sends Users To Rival Platforms

TikTok is usually hard to pull people away from. Yet a mix of ownership changes, privacy worries, and app glitches recently made some U.S. users pause and look around. That short moment of doubt gave a few smaller video apps a chance to step into the spotlight.
 

TL;DR

 

• TikTok’s U.S. user numbers dropped for a short time, then went back up.
• Privacy concerns and app problems made some users try other apps.
• Smaller rivals grew briefly, but TikTok stayed on top.

Data from Similarweb shows TikTok’s daily active users in the U.S. fell to about 86–88 million in the days after the ownership transition, compared with its usual average of around 92 million. That decline was temporary. Usage has since climbed back above 90 million daily users, suggesting many who left have returned.

While TikTok’s numbers dipped, smaller video apps saw a sudden rise. UpScrolled reached a peak of about 138,500 daily active users on January 28 before dropping to around 68,000. Skylight Social followed a similar pattern, hitting roughly 81,200 daily active users and later settling near 56,300. The company also said total sign-ups grew to 380,000 by late January.

The brief shift wasn’t driven directly by the ownership change, but by worries over how it might affect the app. An updated privacy policy drew attention, especially language allowing TikTok to track precise GPS location. Though this may be linked to testing local content features, the timing raised concerns and led some users to question how their data was being used.
 
Other phrases in the policy, including references to collecting “immigration status,” added to the unease. These disclosures, however, were tied to requirements under the California Consumer Privacy Act, rather than a change in TikTok’s actual data practices.

The situation worsened when TikTok faced a multi-day data center outage. Search problems, glitches in likes and comments, video issues, and chat disruptions made the app unreliable. Some users believed their content was being limited, prompting them to look elsewhere.

TikTok later said the outage was caused by a winter-storm-related power issue and confirmed it had been resolved. Once the app stabilized and concerns eased, usage rebounded.

Even so, Similarweb notes that TikTok’s U.S. usage has been slowly trending down since late 2025, when it peaked near 100 million daily users. That leaves some room for competitors, even as TikTok remains far ahead of the pack.