The best Twitter alternatives Counter.Social. Best Twitter alternative overall (and for community) ... Diaspora. Best Twitter alternative with a network for those concerned with privacy. ... Mastodon. Best alternative that's a full social network for Twitter refugees. ... Tumblr.
As Twitter continues to circle the drain, many people are already heading for the doors looking for a new online home. The good news is there are many other social networks. The bad news is none of them are complete Twitter replacements.
So, first things first. You need to set your expectations. For example, no matter where you go, you won't find all your friends, followers, or social media leaders. While it appears Mastodon is attracting the most people to date, popular figures are scattering all over the social internet. For example, Ryan Reynolds, aka Marvel's Deadpool, is now making his virtual home on the old-school Tumblr network.
Each network's user interface and features differ from one another. For instance, it's relatively easy to find people on Twitter, but it can be quite difficult on Mastodon or Diaspora. That's because they run on independent servers, aka pods or instances. Twitter, and most other social networks, run on centralized cloud services.
Each network also has its own rules. Some are much more strict than Twitter. Counter.Social, for example, doesn't allow ads, fake news, trolls, or even access if you live in a country known for hosting bots (such as China, Iran, or Russia).
Generally, other social networks are not centered on short, pithy messages. While Counter.Social limits messages to 500 characters, most will let you write for as long as you like. Hashtags, which can be very useful on Twitter, don't get as much support on any of the other networks.
Another problem with many of them is that they're focused on small communities with a single interest. Twitter enables you to follow different people from many areas. For example, while I care a lot about Linux and open-source software, I also care about science fiction, history, and musical theater. On Twitter, I can follow thought leaders in all those areas. On the other networks? Not so much.
Different communities for different people
No ads Cons Con No message editing ability More Details Features: Open-source-based social network
No central site, organization, or even software
There are pods run by individuals on their own server
All pods are joined together in the Fediverse Diaspora (or, technically, Diaspora*) is an open-source-based social network of social networks. Each "pod" is run by an individual on his or her own server. These are all joined together in what's called the Fediverse. Unlike Twitter, there's no central site, organization, or even software. You simply hunt down a diaspora pod that suits you, join it, and off you go. In my case, I belong to Glass Wings, which tends to have people involved in technology and art. Unfortunately, it's not admitting new users at this time. Can't find one that suits you? Then start your own pod with your own interests and rules. Regardless of the platform, you won't see advertisements or algorithms that decide what messages you'll see. Instead, it consists of multiple, small cozy communities of like-minded people. Once you've joined, you can connect and follow people on other pods. Finding them on the Fediverse, however, can be difficult. You must have that person's specific ID to track them down. The interface, which to some may be more like Facebook than Twitter, can also be difficult to navigate. For example, you can't edit messages once they've been posted -- not that you can do that on Twitter either. Like most social networks, when you get right down to it, the real value you get from it is from the people you follow and befriend on it. For me, Diaspora has an agreeable mix of like-minded folks, so I'm willing to put up with the interface. View now at Diaspora
More oriented to reading and viewing rather than conversation
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Proprietary software More Details Features: More like an early social network such as MySpace
Colorful, simple interface that supports micro-blogging
It has advertising, but you can pay to shut them down Unlike the other social networks, which many of you have never heard of until recently, Tumblr has been with us for almost as long as Twitter. With its colorful, simple interface that supports micro-blogging, Tumblr reminds me more of early social networks such as MySpace than their more modern descendants. Leaving its looks aside, Tumblr is easy and fun to use. It's also more image-oriented than Twitter. But it's not bound to images the way Pinterest and the untrustworthy Instagram are. Tumblr is also more blog-post-oriented. It can and does act as a discussion network too -- but it's not as conversation-oriented as the others. You can also share people's posts and begin your own conversation. Unlike all the other social networks I've covered, Tumblr is a commercial business. To pay its bills, Tumblr has advertising. However, you can shut these down by paying $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. View now at Tumblr View now at Apple App Store View now at Google Play Store more buying choices
What is the best Twitter alternative? Counter.Social is my favorite new social network. And, I'm not the only one. According to Sensor Tower, a market intelligence analysis company, CounterSocial grew by 2,300 percent to 24,000 installs in the 12 days following Musk's acquisition of Twitter. Twitter alternative Features Counter.Social Strict rules against trolls and fake news
Posts are displayed in chronological order
No commercial users or advertising
Relies on donations Diaspora Open-source-based social network
No central site, organization, or even software
There are pods run by individuals on their own server
All pods are joined together in the Fediverse Mastodon The Fediverse social media network most people know
Open-source-based social network of small communities
Mastodon's interface is on the rough side Tumblr More like an early social network such as MySpace
Colorful, simple interface that supports micro-blogging
It has advertising, but you can pay to shut them down
Which Twitter alternative is right for you? It's too early yet to say which is the best new social network for which person. Besides these networks being relatively new, they're also changing radically as new users come flooding in. I can say a few things, such as Mastodon is as close as you're to get to Twitter for now, but that may change as the others continue to evolve. I recommend giving each one of them a fair shake and see which one has a community that feels right for you. Choose this Twitter alternative… If you want… Counter.Social Best Twitter alternative overall (and for community) Diaspora Best Twitter alternative with a network for those concerned with privacy Mastodon Best alternative that's a full social network for Twitter refugees Tumblr Best Twitter alternative for social media leaders and influencers
How did we choose these Twitter alternatives? I've been using social networks since the days of CompuServe Forums, Usenet newsgroups, and mailing lists. These days, I'm still using and running mailing lists. I've also used almost every new social network that's come down the pike. In short, I know social networks. The ones I chose to look at here struck me as both good and "Twitter-like." For example, if you wanted a replacement for Facebook, I'd point you instead to MeWe, but it's in no way a Twitter replacement. I also decided to skip the beta social networks. These potential Twitter replacements include Cohost and Twitter's founder Jack Dorsey's own Bluesky. Who knows? Maybe Google will finally get off the stick and bring back my own all-time favorite social network Google+! But, in every case, they're either not broadly available or too new to say anything concrete about. Maybe they'll be great. Stay tuned in a few months when they're more mature for my take on them.
What is the Fediverse? Several of these social networks, Diaspora and Mastodon, run as part of the Fediverse. This is a social network of social networks. It's made up of independent servers that are loosely hooked together with the ActivityPub protocol. An excellent way of thinking about these networks is email. No single group runs email. It's a system of common protocols that enables people around the world to connect with each other over different email servers. Some, like Gmail or Outlook, have millions of users, while others have only one user. Regardless, they let you talk to each other. The same is true of the networks on the Fediverse. That also means each Fediverse site can have its own rules and software. This gives them independence, but it also means they're fragile. If someone wants to close down their Mastodon or Diaspora instance, your account goes down with them.
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Want to follow SJVN? If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can find me with either my uncommon last name or "sjvn" -- which I've used on every network known to humanity. On Mastodon, though, you'd need my complete address (@sjvn@mastodon.social). That is also true on Diaspora, where you'll find me at sjvn@diaspora.glasswings.com.
Are there alternative social networks worth considering? I expect a true Twitter clone to appear sooner rather than later. Twitter is running into so much trouble in so many different ways I can't believe it will survive on its current path. Of course, Musk may shift course away from the Titanic-sized iceberg ahead, but I doubt it. So, yes, I guess, if you're an optimist or a true blue-check Musk fan, you can hope Twitter will survive his technical, staffing, and policy blunders. Me? I'm waiting for the crash and for someone else to clean up the mess. Something will, however, emerge. For all that Twitter under Musk is a mess, there's still a strong audience for a short text, news-oriented discussion social network. Whether that will be Twitter, one of the other social networks, or a new one that doesn't even have a name yet remains to be seen.
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