Skylight Surges Past 380K Users After TikTok US Deal

Short-form video upstart Skylight has surged past 380,000 users as jitters around TikTok’s new U.S. ownership structure and policy changes pushed curious viewers and creators to explore alternatives. The weekend bump, based on company figures, caps a stretch of rapid adoption for the open social app and signals real momentum beyond a fleeting headline spike.

Skylight Rides TikTok Turbulence Amid Policy Uncertainty

Skylight’s acceleration coincides with the formation of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a restructuring intended to comply with a prior executive order mandating U.S.-based ownership of domestic operations. ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent, now holds less than 20% of the new entity, a shift that sparked questions among users about governance, data handling, and political influence.

Compounding the scrutiny, TikTok’s updated privacy policy highlighted more expansive data permissions, including GPS location access. Users also resurfaced language referencing immigration status collection — a clause that privacy lawyers note reflects broad state-level disclosure requirements rather than a new practice. Still, perception matters: the combination of ownership uncertainty, a handful of glitches, and policy angst nudged some users to sample competing platforms.

A Bet on the AT Protocol for Open, Portable Social Video

Skylight isn’t just another video clone. The app is built on the AT Protocol, the same decentralized framework powering social network Bluesky, which counts more than 42 million users by company tallies. That architecture allows identity portability, open feeds, and cross-network content flow — features that resonate in a market wary of closed platforms.

Co-founded by CEO Tori White and CTO Reed Harmeyer and backed by investors including Mark Cuban, Skylight offers a native video editor, creator profiles, likes and comments, and shareable, curator-led feeds. Because it speaks AT Protocol, Skylight can also ingest and stream eligible videos from Bluesky, expanding discovery without forcing audiences to start from zero.

Early Traction by the Numbers as Usage Surges Higher

Skylight’s metrics show a classic surge-and-stick pattern. The app has crossed 380,000 total users, with roughly 150,000 videos uploaded directly to the platform. On Friday, users played 1.4 million videos, tripling day over day. Over the same window, sign-ups jumped more than 150%, returning users increased over 50%, average videos viewed rose more than 40%, and posts created more than doubled.

Skylight added about 20,000 users over the weekend and has tallied roughly 95,000 monthly actives in January, according to the company. These are modest numbers in isolation, but retention moving in the right direction at an early stage is a stronger signal than raw downloads. It suggests the app’s open feed mechanics and editor are solving real creator workflows, not just siphoning curiosity clicks.

Why Creators Are Kicking the Tires on Skylight Now

For creators, the draw is twofold: control and distribution. Community-curated feeds let tastemakers define niches independent of a single black-box algorithm, while the AT Protocol underpinnings reduce the fear of lock-in by making identity and content more portable across apps. Early adopters also cite frictionless editing and fast publishing as reasons to cross-post to Skylight alongside incumbent channels.

The open-infrastructure angle matters for trust and safety, too. Decentralized social networks can enable multiple moderation layers — from app-level policies to third-party labeling services — an approach that researchers and civil society groups have advocated to balance expression with harm reduction. Skylight’s challenge will be translating those design advantages into consistent, user-friendly enforcement as it scales.

The Scale Gap Remains as TikTok Dominates the Market

TikTok still towers over the category, with about 200 million monthly active users in the U.S. by company disclosure — and a sophisticated ad stack, creator monetization, and a deeply tuned recommendation engine. However, history shows that moments of platform uncertainty can catalyze meaningful experimentation: WhatsApp’s policy update once sent millions to Signal, and Twitter upheaval fueled spikes on decentralized rivals.

For Skylight, the near-term playbook is clear. Keep daily actives climbing, onboard a cohort of recognizable creators, and sustain session-level engagement as the novelty fades. If the AT Protocol helps the app compound network effects across interoperable services, Skylight could punch above its weight despite the category’s steep incumbency curve.

What to Watch Next as Skylight Tries to Convert Momentum

Key signals in the coming weeks include daily active users, creator retention, and the share of videos consumed via community-curated feeds versus pure algorithmic recommendations. Watch for clarity on privacy defaults and location tracking controls, as regulators and state attorneys general continue to scrutinize data collection across social apps.

Most of all, watch whether Skylight can convert a news-driven spike into a durable habit. If it does, the combination of open protocols and short-form creativity could mark the first credible, interoperable beachhead in a market long dominated by closed platforms.