Amid layoffs, verification changes, notable executive layoffs, a fleeting advertising business, and the undeniable fire in the garbage can that is now Twitter, many users are looking for alternative platforms, and rightly so. If you want to do the same, you’re probably wondering: can anything really replace Twitter?
While Twitter has many advantages, some of its best aspects can also be found in other places. I did some digging and found some attractive social network alternatives. Here are some of the best.
Mastodon
9to5Mac on Mastodon
This open source decentralized social networking platform debuted in 2016 and has been gaining momentum ever since Elon Musk officially acquired Twitter in October. He takes a completely different approach to the term “social network” Instead of being a centralized platform (like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), it allows users to create, host, and moderate their own communities or “instances. This leaves a lot of rules and moderation up to the instance host – almost as if you were running your own social network.
Mastodon offers a similar layout to Twitter in 2014. It’s a familiar feeling that helps to not make the process too overwhelming if you’re transitioning from a bird app. That being said, it may seem daunting at first, but once you follow some like-minded people, you can find a great alternative to Twitter.
Co-Host
While Cohost is still in beta, you can’t you need an invitation to join, although if you don’t have one you’ll have to wait a “a day or two” before you can start posting; the site claims to do this to fight spam. In the meantime, you can still look around. I was approved in about an hour.
Cohost claims to be completely ad-free and offers a subscription for advanced features (large downloads, customization options). In addition, the social network states that “will never sell your data, ads or company to anyone who can change these rules to make a quick buck.”
Similar to Facebook and Twitter, it offers a vertical feed or similar actions, although instead of algorithmic control, messages are always listed in the order in which they were posted. I also appreciate the ability to have more than one editor per profile. All in all, it looks like a very early web and community movement.
9to5Mac’s Reddit community
Reddit needs no introduction, but it would be wrong to leave this list out. The popular social news website is somewhere where I expect a lot of attention to the funnel if the Twitter exodus picks up and continues.
At its core, Reddit is a huge collection of forums, each focused on a topic known as subreddits. Sometimes subreddits can be free for all comments, memes and rants. Users can upvote or downvote comments and posts, allowing them to gain or lose karma by pointing to your contribution.
WT.Social
WikiTribue Social or WT.Social claims to be a non-toxic social media platform and “a place where advertisers don’t make decisions.” Where your data is not packaged or sold” It was founded by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales in 2019 as an alternative to traditional sites. Like Wikipedia, WT.Social runs solely on donations and not on advertising.
It is structured so that users can join, create and contribute to “threads” reddit style. By using WT.Social, you will quickly realize that the site is designed to combat misinformation and share meaningful conversations. Posts need fact-based news with links and clear sources. Other users and moderators can also edit and flag misleading links.
While WT.Social is unlikely to become as big as Twitter or Reddit, it is an attractive alternative that even Wales itself has acknowledged: “it radical, crazy experiment.” #8221;
CounterSocial
Right out of the door, CounterSocial boasts on its front page that it doesn’t allow trolls, fake news, ads, or even full access if you live in “original” for bots like Russia, Iran, China and others. Also, oddly enough, it offers a virtual reality space (which is called Counter Realms).
If you’ve ever used Tweetdeck, the CounterSocial column UI will be all too familiar. Users can delete, reorder, or create additional columns from hashtags, user lists, and topics. Free users can follow, like, share and comment on posts and replies. Pro accounts are also available ($5/month) with advanced features such as changing profile status and setting expiration dates and “message breaks.
Although some themes under-lit and full of dead zones, I think CounterSocial offers a good experience and should be an alternative to Twitter on your list.
Tumblr
Tumblr has been around for almost as long as Twitter, and has been responsible for a lot of bad corporate decisions. The Tumblr that exists today still stays true to its long blog-style content – as opposed to Twitter’s 280 character limit – with the ability to share multimedia elements such as photos, videos and GIFs. Subscribers can discuss blog posts in attached notes (comments section). Users can also share other posts on their page (similar to a retweet) or even on other services.
Unlike the previous sites on this list, Tumblr allows ads on its platform. Users can bypass it and get more features by subscribing for $4.99/month or $39.99/year.
Other
Of course , these are just a few of the seemingly endless number of social media platforms today. This list is made up of sites that I think are the best alternatives to Twitter and are capable of absorbing the flocking users. But ultimately, various types of social networking sites can also serve as a good alternative.
LinkedIn is mostly known as a networking site for business professionals. However, like Twitter, it offers many social features such as a news feed and the ability for users to follow each other and share post updates, photos, videos, polls, etc.
Why Started as a way for gamers to communicate while playing video games, Discord has grown into a well-known social network with over 150 million monthly active users. Unlike any of the networks listed above, Discord does not have a public feed or chat. Instead, it’s structured as independent chat rooms where users can send messages and communicate via voice or video calls, which is most similar to Slack.
Have you switched to any of these lately? Do you plan to leave Twitter or stay with it until the end? Let us know in the comments.
