TikTok Alternative 'Skylight' Soars To 380K+ Users After TikTok US Deal Finalized (techcrunch.com)
(Monday January 26, 2026 @10:30PM (BeauHD)
from the decentralize-all-the-things dept.)
- Reference: 0180662098
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/27/0036229/tiktok-alternative-skylight-soars-to-380k-users-after-tiktok-us-deal-finalized
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/tiktok-alternative-skylight-soars-to-380k-users-after-tiktok-u-s-deal-finalized/
[1]Skylight , an open-source, TikTok-style video app built on the AT Protocol, [2]surged past 380,000 users after last week's shake-up around [3]TikTok's U.S. ownership and [4]privacy concerns . TechCrunch reports:
> Launched last year and backed by Mark Cuban and other investors, Skylight's mobile app is built on the AT Protocol, the technology that also powers the decentralized X rival Bluesky, which now has north of 42 million users. Skylight, co-founded by CEO Tori White and CTO Reed Harmeyer, offers a built-in video editor; user profiles; support for likes, commenting, and sharing; and the ability for community curators to create custom feeds for others to follow. The app now has over 150,000 videos uploaded directly to the platform. It can also stream videos from Bluesky because of its AT Protocol integration.
>
> Harmeyer [5]said Saturday that 1.4 million videos were played on the app the day before, up 3x over the past 24 hours. The app had also seen sign-ups increase more than 150%. Other noteworthy stats include over a 50% increase in returning users, over 40% rise in video played on average, and over 100% increase in posts created. This surge was likely triggered by concerns over TikTok's change in ownership and its unfortunately timed [6]technical glitches . [...] Over the weekend, Skylight's CEO, Tori White, said the app added around 20,000 new users and is continuing to grow. So far this January, the app has seen around 95,000 monthly active users.
"We've seen what happens when one person dictates what's pushed into people's feeds," White told TechCrunch. "Not only does it harm a creator's connection with their followers, but the entire health of the platform. That's why we built Skylight Social on open standards. We wanted creator and user power to be guaranteed by the technology. Not an empty promise, but an irrevocable right."
[1] https://skylight.social/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/tiktok-alternative-skylight-soars-to-380k-users-after-tiktok-u-s-deal-finalized/
[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/0817218/tiktok-finalizes-deal-to-form-new-american-entity
[4] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/236200/tiktok-is-now-collecting-even-more-data-about-its-users
[5] https://bsky.app/profile/reedharmeyer.bsky.social/post/3md6d74e2ks2x
[6] https://x.com/tiktokusdsjv/status/2015807214871535741?s=20
> Launched last year and backed by Mark Cuban and other investors, Skylight's mobile app is built on the AT Protocol, the technology that also powers the decentralized X rival Bluesky, which now has north of 42 million users. Skylight, co-founded by CEO Tori White and CTO Reed Harmeyer, offers a built-in video editor; user profiles; support for likes, commenting, and sharing; and the ability for community curators to create custom feeds for others to follow. The app now has over 150,000 videos uploaded directly to the platform. It can also stream videos from Bluesky because of its AT Protocol integration.
>
> Harmeyer [5]said Saturday that 1.4 million videos were played on the app the day before, up 3x over the past 24 hours. The app had also seen sign-ups increase more than 150%. Other noteworthy stats include over a 50% increase in returning users, over 40% rise in video played on average, and over 100% increase in posts created. This surge was likely triggered by concerns over TikTok's change in ownership and its unfortunately timed [6]technical glitches . [...] Over the weekend, Skylight's CEO, Tori White, said the app added around 20,000 new users and is continuing to grow. So far this January, the app has seen around 95,000 monthly active users.
"We've seen what happens when one person dictates what's pushed into people's feeds," White told TechCrunch. "Not only does it harm a creator's connection with their followers, but the entire health of the platform. That's why we built Skylight Social on open standards. We wanted creator and user power to be guaranteed by the technology. Not an empty promise, but an irrevocable right."
[1] https://skylight.social/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/tiktok-alternative-skylight-soars-to-380k-users-after-tiktok-u-s-deal-finalized/
[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/0817218/tiktok-finalizes-deal-to-form-new-american-entity
[4] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/236200/tiktok-is-now-collecting-even-more-data-about-its-users
[5] https://bsky.app/profile/reedharmeyer.bsky.social/post/3md6d74e2ks2x
[6] https://x.com/tiktokusdsjv/status/2015807214871535741?s=20
Lost money (Score:2)
by symbolset ( 646467 ) *
These social media sites are all lost money. They come and go.
Eventually, decentralized wins (Score:1)
by memory_register ( 6248354 )
Linux showed the blueprint when it toppled Microsoft, now this generations task is to do the same to social media.
Open source huh? (Score:2)
by GameboyRMH ( 1153867 )
Well if it's open source I hope they beat UpScrolled that the TikTok users are apparently also fleeing to today:
[1]https://www.engadget.com/socia... [engadget.com]
[1] https://www.engadget.com/social-media/people-are-uninstalling-tiktok-and-downloading-an-indie-competitor-233345222.html
No benefit (Score:2)
BlueSky/SkyLight are US-owned corporations too: There's no benefit to leaving TikTok. If people aren't horrified about the data theft by Windows/Android and the spying by Meta/Alphabet/X, there's no reason to reason to choose a different tech-media corporation.
Re:No benefit (Score:4, Insightful)
BlueSky/SkyLight are decentralized platforms owned by public benefit corporations.
TikTok is still owned by ByteDance which is at least CCP-adjacent (arguably bad), but the US implementation of its algorithm is now controlled by [1] a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World [truthsocial.com] (arguably worse).
[1] https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115942147803684675