Elon Musk‘s administration as CEO of the Bluebird social network has been the talk of the day and many people have stopped using the site, which has over 229 million active accounts.
Meta, with an eye on this billionaire’s failure, launched Threads in early July 2023, one of the alternatives to Twitter that has the most potential to work. But it doesn’t stop there: thinking about putting together all the options for you who want to stop using Twitter, we’ve put together nine free options. Check each one of them out right now!
BlueSky
Founded in 2021, Bluesky is slowly gaining notoriety, and if not for Meta, it would top the list of Twitter replacements. The funniest thing is that the social network belongs to Jack Dorsey, former CEO and founder of the Bluebird social network. Bluesky can also be considered exclusive: to access it, it is necessary to fill out a form and wait for your registration to be approved. Data from July 2023 show that there are 180 thousand active users and the waiting list has more than 1.9 million people.
Whoever has access to this alternative to Twitter can make posts of up to 300 characters, in addition to having access to the AT protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol) as a basis for it to work, created just for Bluesky. This allows portability between accounts, choice of algorithms, and interoperability between different social networks.
Registration is very simple: just enter an email on the invitation request page and wait for a response. No further information will be requested at this time. In addition to a web version, the social network also has applications for Android and iOS. How about testing?
Clubhouse
Success during the pandemic, Clubhouse became famous for being an app with audio rooms on the most diverse subjects. A while later, Twitter itself inaugurated the Spaces feature and everyone ended up returning to the social network of the little blue bird. The improvement in the pandemic, with more people leaving home, also contributed to the Clubhouse being used less and less.
Despite this, the social network remains active and has apps for iOS and Android. In April 2023, the founders announced that more than half of the employees would be laid off in order for the idea to be“restarted from scratch”.
It is still possible to create audio rooms with those who are far away and have a conversation on the most diverse subjects. But it remains to be seen whether this long-outdated Twitter replacement will last for long.
Cohost
Developed by a small team of developers, this is one of the substitutes that will take some time to actually become a successful idea. It delivers the basics: feed in vertical format and with chronological posts, in addition to the use of hashtags.
Best of all, at least for now, there are no ads promoted based on what you post, like, and share content. And there is also no algorithm to track what is sent to Cohost. For now, there is only a web version.
Still in tests, registration is free and all you have to do is fill in the form and a return confirmation of your registration will be sent. The“delay” happens because this approval is done manually to avoid bots on the social network.
It’s free to use, but you can pay a monthly fee of $5 to support the development of new features. Among the future novelties, there is the insertion of a section with the most commented subjects, tipping service, and delivery of a personalized experience.
Social Counter
Aimed at those who like to stay on top of updates on the most diverse subjects, CounterSocial arrives to fill this need. The information page mentions that there is a proper curation to avoid the sharing of fake news and this is so strict that entire nations have already been completely banned. They are Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Syria.
There are several forms of navigation and most of them even resemble Twitter a lot. In addition to the traditional feed, CounterSocial has a virtual reality version that can be accessed via VR glasses to generate high immersion. There is a great content verification policy that is available to users: no abuse, no trolling, no ads, and no fake news.
In addition to a web version, CounterSocial has apps for Android and iOS.
Mastodon
Mastodon became successful after Elon Musk showed interest in turning Twitter into an open source site, something that Mastodon already is. But it is more than that: all the management work is done by the users themselves and there is no digital advertising, with income originating from companies that invest in cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and VPNs.
Despite the look reminiscent of the first versions of Twitter, Mastodon organizes posts by communities on the most diverse subjects and there are more than 4.4 million active users worldwide. Content in Portuguese is still quite scarce and the network is far from what Twitter is today, but the alternative exists.
Registration is free and you can choose the web version or apps for Android or iOS.
Post
Developed with a focus on monetizing journalism, the Post has an interesting proposal, but one that has yet to emerge, in fact. The social network was developed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and technology commentator Scott Galloway, with a focus on providing a source of income for experts in content creation. Registration is free, but you can recharge your wallet within the social network and send“tips” to the profiles you like best.
The Post also has a proposal that encourages journalists from the most diverse segments to post exclusive content. The points received can be transferred to a PayPal account, but the big problem with this is the willingness of many people to pay for the information. But it remains on the list of alternatives to Twitter available on the internet.
There is a web version and an iOS app.
Spill
Founded by Alphonzo“Phonz” Terrell and DeVaris Brown, former Twitter employees who were fired in 2021, Spill‘s focus is on giving a voice to content creators who are part of minority groups. Phonz even wrote a tweet citing that the platform wanted to give more space to“black creators, queer creators and a variety of influential voices outside the US”.
The social network is far from a site that threatens the reign of Twitter, but it has the potential to be a secondary idea that deserves your attention. At the time of launch, in December 2022, it already had 20,000 users on its waiting list.
While Spill is for everyone, we’re catering to culture drivers who often set new trends but are routinely overlooked and undercompensated. Yes, we mean black creators, queer creators, and a variety of influential voices outside of the US.Alphonzo“Phonz” Terrell, one of the creators of Spill
It is possible to access the Spill social network via the web version or app for iOS.
T2
This is another social network that is very reminiscent of Twitter in many ways: in addition to the interface, it was also designed to be a“space to have the authentic conversations we’ve always wanted”. T2 was created by Gabor Cselle, Sarah Oh, and Michael Greer, former Twitter employees who didn’t want to leave the social networking business even after losing their jobs.
The option was launched in November 2022, but it still depends on developer approval for you to post. It is necessary to send a registration and wait for your registration to be validated. It is possible to write content with up to 280 characters and until the closing of this article, it had more than 20 thousand active users. The social network only has a web version.
Threads
Threads was launched in July 2023 and in less than 24 hours, it had more than 10 million registered users. Meta has done its homework in a very assertive way: In addition to the Twitter-like interface, the application is integrated with Instagram. There are still improvements to be made, but this is one of the top alternatives to the Bluebird social network right now.
For now, the success of Threads can be considered momentary, so it remains to be seen whether all expectations will be met so that people use the application in their daily lives, in the same way they do with Twitter. Until the closure of this article, the social network could only be accessed via an app for Android and iOS.