Elon Musk owns Twitter now and is busy taking the social media site private. That might have you looking for alternatives to Twitter, depending on your views on the new owner.
Things are rapidly changing at the company. Musk fired the executive suite, making himself the company’s sole director, with unrestricted control.
In addition, moderation policies will likely be getting relaxed, as Musk has clarified he prefers a free-speech approach where everything goes.
Those changes will likely create more harassment of minorities, LGBTQIA+, and anyone Twitter trolls target.
We know that’s a lot to process. But you’re not alone. News of Musk’s Twitter takeover has prominent power users jumping ship.
If you’re looking for a ticket out of Dodge, we’ve rounded up some alternative Twitter replacements to flee the hellsite we all love. Here are all your options to use instead of Twitter.
Twitter alternatives to check out
Whether you use Twitter for your news, talking to friends, or microblogging, we’ve scoured the internet to find you some options.
All these Twitter-like replacements have moderation policies in place and, in most cases, mobile apps to go along with their website.
cohost
Cohost is a new social site that looks like Twitter and Tumblr had a baby. You can post, repost, or like other posts, and it has a very soothing material design.
It’s microblogging pared back to the essentials, and we’re all for it. The only issue right now is that there’s a waitlist if you sign up.
That’s only a few thousand people long right now, but expect that to grow as the site gets more coverage.
Counter Social
Created by a famed hacker and hacktivist, The Jester, Counter Social runs on a customized Mastodon instance.
It features tools to create communities, ways to watch news programming, and the ability to video chat.
The big draw here is that it promises “No trolls. No abuse. No ads.” and so on. Of course, you’d expect that from an anonymous hacker that served four “operational tours” in the U.S. Army.
Discord
Discord started life as a way for players of the popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV to communicate and organize in-game content. It’s since morphed into a social site with 150 million monthly active users.
Think of it as more early-internet chat rooms or Slack but for fun, and you’re not far off. You can text chat, voice chat, broadcast your gameplay, and more.
Mastodon
Mastodon is immediately recognizable for any longtime Twitter user. It copies most of the UI, except you send “toots” instead of “tweets.” Take that however you will.
The key difference is that Mastodon is open-source, with multiple servers at your disposal. There are no ads, and no one person can decide to pull the plug.
Ahh, Reddit, the self-styled “front page of the internet.” If Twitter is for people to find you, Reddit is for you to find your people.
It’s more of an online forum with added social features organized into subreddits.
A subreddit could be organized around anything, from famous people to computer tech to complicated ideas broken down into toddler-sized explanations.
TikTok
One of the most popular social media sites, TikTok, rose to fame with remixed short videos of dances. Now the platform serves news, how-to tips, cooking recipes, and more in a familiar, never-ending stream.
The downside? ByteDance owns the site, who is located in China. You might be swapping from one authoritarian social media owner for another.
Post
Essentially, Post is yet another Twitter clone, but admittedly, this one does look extremely clean. Unlike Mastodon, navigation and connection seem easier, and the UI is much more reminiscent of Twitter.
That said, the platform is already making some big promises, many of which are unrealistic. The main one asking us to remember when social media was “fun.”
The platform offers some interesting features. There are no character limits, and posts feature the usual comment/like/share prompts.
However, the real intriguing part of Post comes in how it plans to deliver the news.
The plan here is to provide users a way to buy access to individual articles that are normally behind a paywall. Additionally, users can tip creators directly from the platform for content they enjoy.
There’s no direct replacement for Twitter
Finding a decent Twitter replacement isn’t easy.
While you can try to fit that bird-sized hole in your heart, there’s no direct alternative to Twitter. Nowhere else in social media can show you the news while conversing with strangers about the events.
That’s also true for emergencies, with government agencies at all levels using the platform to keep citizens informed.
There is also nowhere you can get instant replies from a wide range of experts. You might say Reddit is a good place for this, but Twitter currently verifies its experts.
LinkedIn is good for experts and networking, but we all know people who have gotten their best jobs from Twitter.
Even if you plan on sticking around, it’s a good idea to back up your Twitter data. You never know what might happen in the future.
Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
Editors’ Recommendations:
- New Primetime Channels adds streaming services to YouTube
- Twitter is reportedly working on a Vine reboot
- This secret Facebook tool removes your phone number and email
- TikTok now shows creators who favorited their videos
#GameTechie
Can the PlayStation 5 play DVDs?
