Twitter has been in the news with stories of losing advertisers, fake tweets and a slew of personnel changes — and the uncertainty is driving people to explore other social media platforms.
Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover could change business accounts with updates to advertising and security. Musk fired key executives and changed the platform’s verification process with Twitter Blue, which led to the creation of fake accounts instead of preventing them. In November 2022, someone opened a fake Eli Lilly account with the blue tick and tweeted that insulin was now free, causing the company to lose perhaps $15 billion at the time of the tweet.
While people continue to watch and see what happens on Twitter, there are other reliable ways to get news — including checking trusted news sites like the Associated Press, BBC, CBS, CNN and Reuters. People can also activate an RSS feed on news websites by clicking the RSS icon to get the latest news, or download an RSS reader like Feedly to select updates from selected sources.
To build connections, users are looking for other ways to promote their businesses on social media. Some social media platforms have a reputation for being biased — like Parler, Gab, and Truth Social — and don’t monitor users’ posted information, attributing it to free speech. However, there are other social media opportunities to make business connections and reach new customers.
1. Bluesky
Bluesky is similar to Twitter in that users can share photo updates and short texts or reply to and share other people’s posts.
Bluesky is different from other social media apps because it is a decentralized system, meaning people can build their own communities and apps within it. There is no one individual who creates the rules for the entire social media platform.
Bluesky is now open to everyone as it is available by invitation only.
2. The club
Clubhouse is an audio-only app where people talk to each other in a live podcast forum. When someone is talking, their profile icon lights up.
Once users join Clubhouse, they can listen to a variety of topics including sports, business, finance, literature and parenting. Unlike Twitter, there are no videos, images or text posts – just profile pictures and voices.
Conversations can be small, with a few people, or thousands of people can listen like a conference. These chats are unfiltered and have no time limits to encourage discussion.
There are no ads in the Clubhouse. However, users can use Clubhouse to expand business connections. Users can schedule an event by doing the following:
- Select Create a room at the end of the meal.
- Allow everyone access to the event or select participants by sending them the link.
- Enable chat during the event and offer replays.
Room titles and themes are searchable for other Clubhouse users.
3. Anti-Social
CounterSocial says there are no ads, trolls, fake news or abuse on their platform. This social media platform is not available everywhere. Blocked countries include China, Iran and Russia, among others.
CounterSocial offers news, live streaming and the ability to create communities. Users define the content on CounterSocial. They can also create columns in its user interface to sort posts by topics, hashtags, and users. Users can share, like and comment on posts. A video chat feature is also included.
4. Disputes
Discord may not look like Twitter, as it is not a single server, but this platform can help users create social and professional circles to enable conversations and stay up to date with the latest news. Discord started as a method for people to talk while playing video games and has expanded into more subject areas.
There are no public spaces on Discord, but there are servers and topic-based channels where members can join and communicate. People can share music and text as well as participate in video or voice calls within these servers. Channels are divided into voice or text rooms for communication. Discord servers can be public or private, requiring registered users to have an invite link to join.
5. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is known as a professional networking site, but the platform has added new social media features in the past two years, including streaming and a news feed.
Users can post videos, links, updates and photos on LinkedIn, just like on Twitter. The platform also offers LinkedIn Learning for users to develop new job skills, and users can search and apply for jobs.
Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016. LinkedIn had a problem with fake accounts in the past, but the company is working to weed them out through AI and machine learning monitoring. LinkedIn employees also manually review profiles to remove fake accounts, according to a report from the company.
6. Mastodon
Mastodon is not a centralized platform like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It is decentralized and allows users to create and host their own communities through open source software. There are no ads because Mastodon is not owned by a company. Mastodon’s platform links together multiple servers, which can also be considered their own social networks in many ways. Each group runs its own server.
Users search for servers that have people with similar interests. Users can share information from the server to help other people find their server if they are not part of it. Users can also change the server they belong to if they find a better match.
7. Threads
Meta’s new Threads app – released on July 6, 2023 – offers Twitter-like features. Users are required to have an Instagram account and those usernames will be transferred to Threads. Users will follow accounts and can like, reply, send direct messages and share posts.
Teads posts can be shown to anyone, followers, or by tagging someone with an “@” mention. This chat app allows Instagram users to follow the same accounts in Threads, but gives more opportunities to communicate. Some users refer to Threads as the “Twitter Killer” because they speculate that users will switch from Twitter to this app.
Threads is a completely free app, unlike Twitter, which offers paid verification.
8. Reddit
Reddit may not be a new alternative, but it offers a large collection of forums on various topics. These small community forums are known as subreddits and can be used to share and comment. Registered users can also vote on comments to help them gain or lose momentum.
Subreddits cover a variety of topics, including hobbies, entertainment, health, news, and business. Anyone can read information on Reddit, but to comment, interact or create a subreddit, one must register.
Reddit has a front page that separates content into different tabs. The default tab is called Hot, which shows the top-scoring submissions — determined by upvotes and downvotes from registered users. Users can upvote — or press the up arrow — if they think a post contributes positively to the community. Users can also select the down arrow on posts they find irrelevant and unhelpful.
Registered users can see the top tab, which also contains the most approved posts from subreddits. Reddit also influences a user’s viewed subreddits to make it more personalized for those who sign up to the site. The front page also contains submissions based on algorithms.
Other tabs include Rising for new upvoted posts and Controversy, which determines which posts have conflicting opinions based on the relative number of downvotes and upvotes.
9. TikTok
TikTok now offers more than just posting short-form videos. Users can now post text-only content by selecting text from the three photo, video and text post options on the camera page.
Ideas for sharing text posts to express creativity include sharing poems, recipes, thoughts, or other written content. Users can also tag a location and enable comments to interact with other users.
Users can also add stickers, background colors and sounds to customize the content. They can tag other accounts in text posts and add hashtags to create trending posts.
Similar to other TikTok posts, users can save text drafts and save them to post later or delete them.
10. Tumblr
Tumblr tracks trending topics like Twitter by using blogs to share information, with a Staff Picks section to highlight topics. Tumblr features microblogging and hybrid blogging for short posts, and most posts contain more visual content than words. Users can leave notes on a post, similar to comments. People can also like, share and repost content on Tumblr.
There are ads on Tumblr; however, users can subscribe for $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year to go ad-free. There are additional features such as premium designs and custom domains available for a fee.
11. WT. Social
WT.Social, short for WikiTribune Social, is another platform created by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. WT.Social has the same philosophy as Wikipedia and works with donations instead of advertising.
WT.Social users can create, join and contribute to what the site refers to as subwikis by microblogging about topics. Users can also share links within their subwikis with other users for discussion. WT.Social requires posts to be evidence-based news with clear and reliable source links. Moderators and other users can report and edit misleading posts and links to help prevent misinformation.
Learn 10 ways to spot misinformation on social media.
