X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is in a right state after Elon Musk took the reins in October 2022.
The latest news is that Musk is platforming extremist agitators like Tommy Robinson and perpetuating conspiracy theories about two-tier policing in the UK in the wake of the recent riots – which, by the way, were stoked in part due to the spread of false information on social media.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the platform, along with other social media, is home to dodgy verified accounts that actively spread lies to deceive users, according to the European Commission. It’s all down to Musk’s decision to let anyone buy blue ticks and boost their visibility on X. The lunatics are officially running the asylum, it seems.
If you think X is starting to feel like a sinking ship, with a captain hacking away at its hull with an axe, perhaps it is time to look for an alternative. Here are the best rivals.
Threads
Founded: 2023
Number of active users: 200 million
Threads is basically Twitter by way of Meta – the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. After its launch last summer, it has attracted more than 200 million users, making it a genuine rival to Musk’s ailing social media site.
In short, it feels a lot like X, with the ability to post messages of up to 500 characters that appear in followers’ timelines in real-time. Like X, you can reply to interesting posts and repost content from others into your own timeline for your followers to see.
It links directly to your Instagram account, which makes it feel a bit less private, and annoyingly there’s currently no way to completely block out algorithmically picked-out content from your timeline (though you can switch to a feed of accounts you follow every time you open the app).
In recent weeks, it feels like Threads has witnessed an uptick in journos and media types, but it’s still not as good for breaking news as X – probably due to its reduced emphasis on politics. Nevertheless, it’s a strong start, and will feel instantly appealing to those who want the functionality of X with less corporate drama.
Bluesky
Founded: 2021
Number of active users: 1.1 million
Since February, Bluesky has dropped its invite-only policy, so there’s no need to beg users to help you get past its velvet rope. Still, it only has a fraction of members compared to X and Threads, despite a recent bump in UK patrons after Musk’s latest outbursts.
The Bluesky “big sell” is that it’s a decentralised network, although that won’t mean much to the average person looking for a Twitter alternative. This means Bluesky plans to fracture into communities that it does not centrally manage.
It’s also gradually been adding more features including videos and the ability to direct message other users.
Founded: 2005
Number of active users: 52 million
Founded a year before Twitter, Reddit is an internet institution, but one that can often seem opaque and unfriendly to folks without a degree in internet culture. It has much more of the air of a classic message board or forum than Twitter and is broken down into often incredibly specific areas called subreddits.
These are home to some of the best and worst things the internet has to offer. And, of course, the bad bits have gained all the attention over the years. However, it’s a great place to indulge in hobbies with like-minded folks, while Reddit feeds such as /todayilearned and /dataisbeautiful are top time-killers minus the Twitter guilt.
Since going public in March, concerns have grown that Reddit’s management is kowtowing to shareholders to the detriment of its thriving community. Earlier this year, it started licensing user data to Google for AI training purposes. It is also under the pump to generate more revenue, which could lead to more adverts on the platform. And, CEO Steve Huffman has indicated that it could lock some forums behind paywalls.
Mastodon
Founded: 2016
Number of active users: One million
While Mastodon is one of the most similar-looking alternatives to X, it will feel quite different in use. X is a behemoth in which everyone tweets under the same virtual dome, while Mastodon operates as a series of smaller servers, each with a maximum of 250,000 participants.
A server is chosen on sign-up. There’s a server for “people in Scotland or who identify as Scottish”, for example, or another for “ravers”. Mastodon is going to feel a lot less busy than X; it is less of a place to pick up social media clout than it is to connect with people who have similar interests.
Substack
Founded: 2017
Number of active users: 2 million paying subscribers
Substack essentially allows you to sign up to receive newsletters via email from notable and amateur writers. The platform has built a reputation as a refuge for media firebrands who have fled established news outlets. Among the notable authors on Substack are journalists Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi; renowned authors Salman Rushdie and Chuck Palahniuk; Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings; and political activist Michael Moore.
You can join, and even publish your own articles, free of charge. But some writers charge a subscription for their newsletters, while others simply ask for a tip. Substack makes money by pocketing 10 per cent of the subscription fees, with additional costs for payment processing.
More recently, Substack has branched out to introduce podcasts and videos, though it’s mainly associated with written articles. Notably for alienated X fans, it also just launched its own take on short-form text posts, dubbed Notes, which are uncannily similar to tweets.
Hive
Founded: 2019
Number of active users: One million
Hive Social may appeal to those looking for something that behaves a lot like X as soon as you sign up. Like X, there’s a timeline and the ability to follow people and repost other people’s messages as you see fit. It does all this without timeline algorithms: you see things in chronological order as they’re posted, just like in the early days of Twitter.
There are big differences, though. For starters, there’s no limit to post length. This makes the bite-sized content X offers optional, with no defence against blowhards who enjoy the sound of their own voices. Also, at the time of writing, it’s mobile-only, with no desktop experience at all.
Following a brief explosion of interest in late 2022, Hive has not blown up as some hoped. But development of the platform continues. On June 20, Hive announced its verification feature, in which you email copies of a photo ID to the Hive team. But at least you don’t have to pay to do so — yet.
Post
Founded: 2022
Number of active users: TBC
Post is a social network driven by news. It was launched by Noam Bardin, former CEO of Waze.
“Post is designed to give the voice back to the side-lined majority; there are enough platforms for extremists, and we cannot relinquish the town square to them,” says Bardin.
In person, Post reads more like a news feed, with articles from publications like USA Today and Fortune. It’s less about reading the bizarre opinions of Greg278938X from the internet. However, you will find ordinary folks posting on Post too.
It has a points-based currency. You pay a certain number of points to read full articles, and can tip people, or publications. Buying additional points costs real cash. Post is only available for iPhone right now, and it’s not clear how many active users the platform has at present.
CounterSocial
Founded: 2017
Number of active users: Around 30,000
A response to the ills that have afflicted social-media giants such as X and Facebook, CounterSocial claims to take a “zero-tolerance stance” to “hostile nations, bot accounts, trolls, and disinformation networks”.
To this end, it blocks entire countries from accessing the network, including Russia, China, and North Korea.
Once you access it, the look is similar to that of Twitter, but with virtually zero engagement in posts from the “community firehose” of content promoted by the app itself. CounterSocial isn’t one for those looking to kill some time browsing social media streams. Bring some friends along. You might cringe yourself out of giving it a go if you read the platform’s FAQ section, though.
The Counter Social team also runs Counter Realms, a metaverse-like set of VR chat rooms. However, at the time writing they were all empty.
Cohost
Founded: 2022
Number of active users: Around 38,000
If CounterSocial is the “no bots” platform, Cohost aims to be the “no algorithm” social network, bringing back some of the feel of the internet of years gone by. It promises “no ads, no tracking”, for good.
You can try the service free of charge, but there’s also Cohost Plus subscription for $5 (£4) a month ($50/£40 a year) to support the developers, and unlock a few advanced features, such as large file uploads.
There’s no Cohost phone app yet, only a web interface, which isn’t easy to find. And its active user base is likely tiny. Sign up with a bunch of friends, though, and there are worse ways to keep in contact online.
Tumblr
Founded: 2007
Tumblr is a social network many have forgotten existed. It was a giant back in the days before such platforms were routinely described as a “hellscape”. But according to a New Yorker interview with Tumblr CEO Jeff D’Onofrio, 48 per cent of active users and 61 per cent of new users were from Gen Z.
Today, it comes across as a much lower-stakes network than the big names. Since it has been around forever, it doesn’t claim to want to clean the social-networking slate. It is less influencer-drenched than the more mainstream networks.
