Social networking alternatives for the Meta- and Musk-averse

As I constitute this, location are a batch of societal web users who are wondering if they should look for a caller home. Over astatine X, Elon Musk has fundamentally go part of the incoming Trump administration, while various changes person made the formerly celebrated societal web a acheronian and forbidding wood for galore of its erstwhile inhabitants.

Meanwhile, Meta’s announcement that it was abandoning third-party fact-checkers and moving its spot and information teams from California to Texas is making immoderate Facebook and Instagram members nervous. So nervous, successful fact, that while we antecedently included Meta’s Threads societal web successful this article arsenic a imaginable replacement to X, we’ve pulled it — astatine slightest for now.

So, if you’re nary longer emotion safe astatine your existent societal network, wherever do you go?

We’ve been looking into the various possibilities and person put together what is admittedly an incomplete database of immoderate of the existent alternatives to X, Facebook, and Instagram that you whitethorn want to cheque retired if you’re reasoning astir leaving your existent hangout.

Probably thing will go the mixed news / rumors / speech / spam root that Twitter erstwhile was, and it whitethorn beryllium difficult to time off the benignant of friends and family spot that Facebook has become. But location are a fewer others retired location that whitethorn suit you. Here’s wherever to start.

While Bluesky had thing of a slow commencement (it was only successful induce mode for a while), it has since made up for it — arsenic of early January 2025, it claimed over 25 cardinal users, attracting a bevy of folks looking for a much independent network.

Bluesky has been developed to beryllium a decentralized societal network. In fact, it aspires to beryllium portion of the fediverse — a web of interconnected societal media platforms — and the interface is very Twitter-like, which isn’t astonishing since Bluesky was originally funded by Twitter itself. Bluesky is reasonably easy to get astir successful and has been tweaked rather a spot since its introduction. You get 300 characters per station but presently can’t edit a station aft it goes live. Some of the attractions see the expertise to easy shut up words, tags, aliases circumstantial accounts, aliases artifact those accounts completely; it besides offers “Starter Packs,” a characteristic that lets you automatically adhd prepackaged groups of members — say, science fabrication authors aliases philatelists — to your feed. (You do person the action of removing immoderate individual members of those groups.)

Bluesky is disposable connected the web aliases utilizing iOS aliases Android apps. It besides has a assortment of associated apps available, including different web and mobile clients, aliases follows specified arsenic Adopt a Pet, which runs photos of adoptable animals each 30 minutes.

Mastodon is portion of what is known arsenic the fediverse. You don’t subordinate Mastodon per se; you subordinate a circumstantial server (also known arsenic an instance) tally by an organization, individual, aliases group of individuals. Moderation policies are wished by each group (although location are basal moderation policies that use to each the servers).

On the 1 hand, this intends location is thing of a learning curve that whitethorn confuse caller users; connected the other, it besides intends you tin take either a generalized lawsuit aliases 1 that reflects your circumstantial interests — an lawsuit made up of, say, simple schoolhouse teachers aliases anime fans. And you’re not constricted to a azygous server. You tin travel group aliases person followers from different servers, and you tin alteration servers — aliases create your own.

On Mastodon’s modular instances, you thin to person a 500-character limit per post. You tin connect images, a video, aliases an audio file, and you tin edit your posts aft they are published. Hashtags are encouraged to thief group find your content, and location are a assortment of apps for iOS and Android devices. (There is besides a site pinch a bunch of tips, Mastodon’s thief site, and a assortment of different places to find help.)

To motion up, you spell to https://joinmastodon.org/ and click connected “Join mastodon.social” (which is the astir well-known server) aliases “Pick different server.” You tin besides spell to Fedi.Garden, which offers what it describes arsenic an “easy and stress-free measurement of choosing a Fediverse server.” You tin take to hunt by taxable and / aliases language. Some instances will fto you subordinate immediately; others person waitlists.

Whether TikTok will still beryllium astir a fewer weeks from now may beryllium somewhat up successful the air, but arsenic this is being written, it is still an highly celebrated video-based societal network.

The magnitude of videos tin vary: recorded utilizing the app, they tin scope from 15 seconds to 10 minutes long, and you tin besides upload videos up to 60 minutes long. People tin travel you and remark connected your videos — and you tin reply the comments pinch different videos. You tin “stitch” different people’s videos into yours successful bid to clasp a virtual speech and clasp unrecorded video sessions (as agelong arsenic you person astatine slightest 1,000 followers) wherever you interact pinch others and even judge gifts. And a matter action allows you to station text-only entries successful a assortment of colors, typefaces, type sizes, and formats.

What videos you spot connected your provender dangle connected what the app’s algorithm decides you want to see, and this tin alteration radically depending connected what you take to “like” aliases remark on, the creators you follow, and really overmuch clip you walk connected circumstantial videos.

Reddit is simply a well-known web that has been astir for rather a while. The tract is modeled disconnected of classical connection boards and is divided into subgroups, known arsenic subreddits. You tin subordinate immoderate subreddit piques your liking — anime, crochet, Star Wars, sci-fi literature, aliases immoderate spirit of politics, religion, aliases societal topics you want to chat about.

There tin beryllium much than 1 subreddit handling a different facet of a taxable aliases that has a different type of moderation. Each subreddit has its ain rules, and the moderator tin footwear you retired if you don’t adhere to them. You commencement a topic, and the chat connected that taxable is threaded. You tin upvote aliases downvote a taxable aliases 1 of the entries successful a topic. Because the interface is threaded, location tin beryllium discussions successful which an writer answers questions astir a book aliases a tech master helps pinch problems. But Reddit is big, truthful expect to walk immoderate clip exploring earlier you find your communities.

Tumblr — which launched successful 2007 and has gone done its adjacent stock of firm owners — is much a bid of blogs alternatively than a chat societal network. You tin easy scroll done the latest entries of each the group you follow. You past click connected the introduction to spot (and participate in) immoderate discussions. Each introduction is text, image, aliases video-based; followers tin past talk the entries via attached notes. You tin besides reblog (in different words, put the introduction into your feed) aliases stock the introduction to different services. 

Tumblr has experimented pinch a number of features that haven’t panned out, specified arsenic Tumblr Live. Most recently, it has added Reddit-like topic-based communities.

Discord is much an invitational chat work than a free-for-all societal network. It is made up of abstracted servers that let users to participate successful matter discussions, make video and sound calls, and speech files; the interface tin beryllium heavy tweaked by the administrators depending connected really they want to grip permissions, discussions, icons, etc. In different words, Discord tin beryllium a very useful tool, particularly successful the hands of personification who is reasonably tech-savvy. And if you person a family group looking for a caller spot to make its home, Discord could beryllium an fantabulous choice.

When you download the Discord app (which is disposable for some desktop and mobile devices), you tin database arsenic galore of the groups you beryllium to arsenic you’d for illustration connected the near broadside of the screen. For example, if you’ve sewage a server from your company, a instrumentality club, aliases a group of friends, you tin easy click from 1 to the other.

According to an article successful AfroTech, Spill was built by 2 ex-Twitter labor to create a safe abstraction for divers communities. Entries person a 280-character limit, and you tin adhd photos, videos, GIFs, and links; matter overlaps the images, giving the interface a much ocular feel. You tin besides person typical Tea Parties to stitchery via unrecorded video, audio, and chat, aliases create your ain groups. Currently, it is disposable via Mac and iOS apps.

Spoutible is 1 of the much Twitter-like of the caller societal networks. Aptly, it uses a whale / water metaphor throughout: you “spout” your sentiment alternatively of posting it and usage “splashtags” alternatively of hashtags. Like Twitter, you person a floor plan page, you travel and are followed, and you person a timeline and tin do one-to-one chats. But earlier you tin contribute, you person to verify your telephone number.

On Spoutible’s About Us page, it expresses its determination to return diverseness and privateness earnestly while mitigating harassment and different problems endemic to societal networks. Unfortunately, it germinated a monolithic information leak backmost successful February 2024, which whitethorn person constricted its popularity.

CounterSocial boasts connected its beforehand page that it doesn’t let trolls, ads, aliases clone news — and has a agelong database of measures it takes to beforehand privateness and security, including personality breach alerts, real-time clone news consciousness via FactLayer, and nary third-party tracking. Other absorbing features see “exploding posts” that tin beryllium group to self-detonate and livestreaming news from selected providers. There are apps for some Android and iOS.

You person a prime of UIs: the Advanced Mode useful via a bid of columns alternatively than the accepted feed. If you’ve ever utilized TweetDeck, you’ve sewage a adjacent thought of what it looks like. You tin usage each file to travel different hashtags aliases personification lists. You tin pin columns successful their spot aliases move them astir the interface and put notifications for replies aliases caller entries. The replacement Simplified Mode offers a azygous feed, much for illustration Twitter aliases Facebook. There is besides a chat nexus for support and conflict resolution.

Trust Cafe is simply a revamp of a societal web antecedently called WT.Social. It is dedicated to creating a abstraction “where honesty and authenticity are weighted supra each else.” To that end, it uses a strategy of spot levels, starting pinch Newbie / Guest and moving your measurement up. Each level determines really visible your posts are and unlocks various different features. You beforehand by being voted arsenic trustworthy by others whose spot level has already been established. You besides request to beryllium a paying personnel (starting pinch $8 monthly) if you want to really advance. You tin person a free account, but you won’t beforehand beyond the Bronze level.

Snapchat’s motto, arsenic it appears connected its webpage, is “Less societal media. More Snapchat.” But while Snapchat’s main intent is to supply a nosy and imaginative measurement to pass pinch friends and family, location is besides a societal networking facet to it: Snapchat Stories are short, snappy videos, galore of which are public. You tin subscribe to immoderate video creators you’d for illustration aliases hide those you don’t. And past location is Spotlight, which is incredibly TikTok-ish — you swipe done various short videos from different creators, for illustration the ones you enjoy, subscribe to the ones you really like, and time off comments.

Any others?

There are a number of different societal networking resources retired there, of course; we’ve only touched connected a fewer here.

No societal web is everlastingly (such arsenic the precocious lamented CompuServe, the pre-Myspace Friendster, and the yes-it-is-still-there-sort-of AOL). Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram person besides decidedly had a beardown power connected organization sermon complete the past fewer years. We’ll person to spot whether they clasp that power complete the adjacent fewer months and years — and if not, what (if anything) will switch them.

Update, January 8th, 2025: This article was primitively published connected November 1st, 2022; since then, respective societal networks person been added, a mates person been removed, and astir of the different entries person been updated.