The news: TikTok has bounced back from a short decline in user activity in the days after its US ownership change, which gave competitors like Skylight Social and UpScrolled a boost in adoption, per Similarweb data cited by Techcrunch.
- Estimates found that TikTok usage fell from 92 million daily active users in the US to approximately 88 million following the ownership change.
- In contrast, UpScrolled reached a peak of 138,500 daily active users, while Skylight Social hit 81,200.
- TikTok has now bounced back to exceed 90 million daily active users, while rival apps have decreased once again. UpScrolled now sits around 68,000 daily active users, while Skylight Social fell to 56,300.
Zooming out: The days following TikTok’s US ownership transfer were marked by widespread errors, contributing to app uninstalls surging 150%.
Users reported errors with TikTok’s famous For You algorithm and concerns with a new privacy policy; creators, meanwhile, struggled to upload videos and faced indefinite “under review” periods.
TikTok blamed a data center outage that lasted several days for the glitches, not a switch to US ownership—and after TikTok announced on Sunday that this issue was resolved, things seem to have returned to the status quo.
What it means for marketers: TikTok’s dominance and reach remain unmatched, and it will take more than temporary issues to drive users away from the app permanently.